^-<^HL^2^-<^^^^ 


y 


Copyright,  1878,  1883,  by  J.  B.  LlPPINCOTT  &  Co. 


<;  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  27th  May,  1878. 

"  MESSRS.  RICHARD  M.  JOHNSTON  AND  WM.  HAND  BROWNE, 
"  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

"  DEAR  SIRS, — The  manuscript  of  the  biography  prepared  by  you,  and 
submitted  for  my  perusal,  with  the  request  that  I  should  correct  any  errors 
that  I  might  see  in  it,  has  been  carefully  read  to  me  from  beginning  to  end  ; 
and  I  have  only  to  say  that  I  think  all  the  essential  facts  in  regard  to  me 
and  my  acts  are  substantially  correct. 

"  Of  course,  I  have  not  had  time  to  compare  the  copies  of  the  letters,  or 
of  the  speeches,  with  the  originals.  The  speeches,  however,  have  all,  I 
think,  been  published  some  time  ago,  in  some  form  or  other;  most  of  them 
in  the  '  Congressional  Globe'  and  '  Record.'  If  any  error  in  them  shall 
have  crept  into  your  copies,  it  can  easily  be  discerned.  As  to  the  letters, 
in  one  instance  I  have  suggested  the  addition  of  a  few  words,  to  make 
^lore  clear  the  true  meaning  of  what  was  intended  at  the  time  of  a  hasty 
writing;  in  another,  I  have  suggested  the  change  of  two  words;  and  in 
still  mother,  the  change  of  one  word.  These  changes  have  been  made 
with  tiifj  same  view.  In  no  instance  have  these  suggested  changes  marred 
or  modified  the  original  meaning  in  the  slightest  degree.  I  also  suggested 
some  foot-notes  which  may  throw  light  upon  the  text. 

"For  your  very  great  labor,  gentlemen,  in  selecting  and  arranging,  out 
of  the  vast  materi:;!  before  you,  what  you  have  thus  presented,  and  which 
was  so  gratuitously  undertaken,  you  have  my  sincere  thanks. 

"As  I  said  to  you  personally,  I  now  repeat,  that  I  yield  my  consent  to 
the  publication  of  the  work  in  my  lifetime  only  upon  the  ground  of  the 
many  misrepresentations  of  my  motives,  objects,  and  acts  on  several 
occasions  in  my  not  uneventful  public  course. 

This  letter,  gentlemen,  you  are  at  liberty  to  use  as  you  please. 

"  With  kindest  regards  and  best  wishes, 

"  I  remain  yours  truly, 

"ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 


PEEFACE. 


IN  submitting  to  the  public  this  biography  of  Alexander  PI. 
Stephens,  we  deem  it  proper  to  make  some  explanation  regarding 
the  facilities  we  have  enjoyed  for  the  performance  of  our  task. 

The  greater  part  of  the  knowledge  which  we  have  of  Mr. 
Stephens's  private  life,  and  especially  of  his  childhood  and 
youth,  has  been  obtained  by  Mr.  Johnston  during  a  close  intimacy 
of  more  than  twenty-five  years,  partly  in  conversations,  and  partly 
in  letters  containing  copious  answers  to  direct  inquiries.  He 
has  also  been  in  the  habit  of  noting  down  from  memory  the 
substance  of  such  of  their  conversations  as  turned  upon  these 
topics,  having  for  years  proposed,  at  some  convenient  season,  to 
prepare  the  present  memoir.  The  letters  will  be  found  to  refer 
chiefly  to  the  period  of  Mr.  Stephens's  youth,  and  the  conversa 
tions  to  those  events  of  the  time  in  which  he  had  an  interest  or 
was  an  actor.  In  addition  to  these  there  has  been  placed  in  our 
hands  a  vast  body  of  letters  written  by  himself  to  his  brother 
Linton  during  thirty-five  years,  in  which  he  has  recorded  not 
merely  every  event  of  the  hour,  with  his  views,  intentions,  opin 
ions,  but  the  inmost  thoughts  and  feelings  of  his  heart.  So  that 
even  while  withholding  the  large  part  of  this  material  which 
discretion  or  delicacy  toward  the  writer  restrains  us  from  making 
public,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  it  is  not  often  the  lot  of  a 
biographer  to  be  so  thoroughly  provided  with  the  means  for 
illustrating  the  character,  life,  and  actions  of  his  subject. 

One  of  the  principal  motives  which  have  prompted  us  to 
undertake  this  work  has  been  a  desire  to  show  the  world  more 
than  it  has  yet  known  of  Mr.  Stephens's  inner  nature,  and  to 
present  an  example  of  continued,  faithful,  and  cheerful  discharge 
of  duty  during  a  life  rarely  exempt  from  severe  suffering  both 

5 


$  •    PREFACE. 

of  body  and  mind.  No  one  who  has  known  him  has  ever 
known  a  man  more  faithful  to  all  noble  instincts  and  all  manly 
obligations ;  and  yet  none  has  known  one  to  whom  such  fidelity 
was  more  difficult. 

In  the  year  1858  Mr.  Johnston  was  visiting  at  his  house,  and 
during  his  stay  Mr.  Stephens  conversed  frequently  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  his  early  life  and  career.  His  childhood  had  seen  many 
troubles.  The  early  loss  of  his  mother,  his  weakness  of  consti 
tution,  and  work  hard  in  itself,  and  doubly  hard  for  his  frail 
body,  were  heavier  burdens  to  him  than  even  his  family  knew. 
His  extreme  mental  and  physical  sensibility  suffered  acutely;  but 
he  suffered  in  silence.  They  rode  together  to  "the  homestead," 
as  he  calls  his  native  place.  Having  dismounted,  they  were 
walking  from  the  present  house  to  the  place  where  the  old  one 
had  stood,  when  he  stopped  and  said,  "  It  was  just  here  that  I 
was  working,  hoeing  corn,  when  some  one  from  the  house  came 
to  tell  me  that  Linton  was  born.  It  was  on  the  morning  of  the 
1st  of  July,  1823." 

On  reaching  the  site  of  the  house,  he  pointed  it  out,  and 
where  the  kitchen  and  garden  had  been.  "  This  old  stump," 
he  said,  "  is  that  of  a  peach-tree  that  stood  behind  the  kitchen- 
chimney.  Here  was  the  asparagus-bed, — do  you  see?' — and 
though  thirty-five  years  had  elapsed  there  were  several  shoots 
of  that  plant  still  lifting  their  slender  heads. 

The  grave-yard — inclosed  by  a  thick  stone  wall  erected  by 
Mr.  Stephens  but  a  few  years  before — was  a  few  paces  distant. 
"Here  lie,"  he  said,  "many  who  were  dear  to  me  in  life,  and 
here  I  wish  to  be  buried  when  I  die." 

They  went  next  to  the  spring.  Neglect  had  diminished  its 
waters,  and  the  rains  of  years  had  laid  waste  its  pleasing  sur 
roundings.  They  sat  upon  the  hill-side.  "  How  many,  many 
events,"  he  said,  "are  associated  in  my  heart  with  that  spring! 
How  many  times  I  have  been  here  when  a  child,  often  coming 
for  no  other  purpose  than  to  muse  here  undisturbed  !  Do  you 
see  my  name  carved  upon  that  stone  ?  That  was  done  when  I 
was  a  boy.  Here  I  have  often  lain  upon  my  back  and  looked 
up  through  the  tops  of  the  trees  toward  the  sky  and  watched 
the  flying  clouds.  My  mother  I  had  only  heard  of  from  others, 


PREFACE.  7 

and  when  very  young  I  used  to  come  here  and  think  where  she 
then  was,  and  fancied  that  she  might  be  in  one  of  those  passing 
clouds,  and  might  know  how  my  heart  longed  for  her.  But  no 
human  being  knew  that  I  had  such  thoughts." 

When  we  retired  for  the  night,  he  invited  his  guest,  if  not 
too  fatigued,  to  come  into  his  room.  "  You  have  been  asking 
me  many  questions/7  he  said,  "about  my  early  life.  I  think  I 
will  show  you  something  which  no  one  but  myself  has  ever  seen 
before.77  He  took  a  chair,  placed  it  by  a  chest  of  drawers  sur 
mounted  by  rows  of  pigeon-holes,  on  the  top  of  which  lay  a 
confused  mass  of  books  and  papers.  From  the  former  he  selected 
one  which  was  carefully  tied  up :  it  was  old  and  dusty.  He 
looked  at  it  musingly  for  some  time,  and  then  untied  the  string. 
"  This,77  he  said,  "  is  a  kind  of  journal,  and  contains  some  things 
that  I  wrote  many  years  ago,  when  I  first  came  to  the  bar.  I 
have  not  looked  into  it  for  years.  'Noli  me  tangere,'  I  see  I  have 
written  on  the  back,  and  I  have  many  times  thought  I  would 
destroy  it.77 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  not  done  so,  and  I  wish  you  would  let 
me  have  it.77 

"  No,77  he  answered ;  "  there  are  some  things  in  it  that  I  am 
not  willing  for  any  one  to  see.77 

He  afterwards  read  aloud  several  pages  from  it,  and  after  some 
reflection,  said  his  guest  might  read  the  whole.  A  year  or  two 
after  this  the  book  was  received,  and  such  parts  extracted  as 
would  aid  in  the  proposed  work.  This  journal  gives  no  incidents 
of  his  life  previous  to  the  death  of  his  father.  Many  of  these 
were  told  in  that  visit  and  on  subsequent  occasions.  But  not 
having  then  begun  the  habit  of  taking  notes  of  these  conversa 
tions,  Mr.  Johnston  found  that  much  that  he  wished  to  remember 
escaped  his  memory ;  so  he  determined  to  get  as  many  written 
statements  from  hinras  he  could  be  induced  to  give. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1862  Mr.  J.  wrote  a  bit  of  dog 
gerel  poetry,  and  inclosed  it  in  a  jocular  and  burlesque  letter 
signed  with  the  name  "  Jeems  Giles.77  The  personage  represented 
himself  as  a  humble  but  hopeful  aspirant  for  poetical  fame,  whose 
soul  yearned  for  sympathy  and  encouragement.  Mr.  Stephens 
recognized  the  handwriting;  and  in  a  day  or  two  Mr.  Giles 


8  PREFACE. 

received  an  amusing  answer  in  the  same  style.  The  correspond 
ence  thus  begun  was  continued  for  some  time,  the  letters  chiefly 
consisting  of  humorous  criticisms  upon  each  other's  productions; 
and  in  it  Mr.  Stephens  took  the  name  of  "  Peter  Finkle,"  and 
wrote  in  the  character  of  one  holding  some  subordinate  position 
under  him,  but  admitted  to  a  considerable  degree  of  his  patron's 
confidence. 

Early  in  1863,  Mr.  Stephens  being  then  at  home,  Mr.  Giles, 
having  exhausted  what  amusement  was  to  be  had  from  the  sub 
jects  hitherto  discussed,  asked  Mr.  Finkle  to  write  him  some 
thing  about  his  patron  himself,  his  childhood  and  early  manhood, 
and  to  get  from  him  occasionally  his  opinions  about  the  war  and 
other  public  matters.  Mr.  Finkle  promised  compliance,  and 
from  time  to  time  thereafter  reported  many  conversations  he 
had  had  with  "  Boss,"  as  he  denominated  his  patron. 

It  was  in  this  way  were  obtained  from  Mr.  Stephens  many  inci 
dents  of  his  life  that  could  hardly  have  been  procured  otherwise. 
When  he  assumed  the  style  of  a  third  party,  writing  to  an  ima 
ginary  person,  he  wrote  with  an  interest  and  a  freedom  which 
he  could  never  have  had  in  writing  under  his  own  name. 

From  these  sources,  then, — the  Finkle  correspondence,  the 
Journal,  notes  of  conversations,  and  an  immense  mass  of  most 
intimate  letters  to  his  brother  Linton  and  his  friend,  as  well  as 
from  his  speeches,  letters,  and  other  records  of  his  public  life, — 
the  materials  for  this  biography  have  been  drawn.  The  respec 
tive  sources  will  be  indicated  in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  in 
which,  wherever  possible,  we  give  the  words  of  Mr.  Stephens 
himself. 

R.  M.  J. 
W.  H.  B. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE       6 

CHAPTER    I. 

The  Stephens  Family — The  Fugitive  Jacobite — An  Idyll  on  the  Juniata — Re 
moval  to  Georgia — Andrew  B.  Stephens — Purchase  of  the  Homestead — The 
Grier  Family — Marriage  of  Andrew  B.  Stephens — Birth  of  Alexander — 
Second  Marriage  of  Andrew  B.  Stephens— Birth  of  Linton  Stephens — Mar 
riages  • 17 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  "Giles  and  Finkle"  Correspondence — Early  Recollections — Schoolmaster 
Day— Georgia  "Old-Field  Schools"— A  Mutiny— Barring  out— The  Inquis 
itive  Owl — Schoolmaster  Duffie  and  his  Advice .22 

CHAPTER    III. 

Home-work — Youthful  Trials — Recollections  of  his  Father — A  Painful  Lesson 
— "Learning  Manners" — Exhibitions — Almost  a  Tragedy — Death  of  Andrew 
B.  Stephens— A  Great  Sorrow 30 

CHAPTER    IY. 

Death  of  Mrs.  Stephens,  and  Dispersion  of  the  Family — Sunday-School — Rapid 
Progress — Removal  to  his  Uncle's — O'Cavanaugh — Becomes  a  Hero  in  a  Small 
Way — Leaves  School — A  Turning-point  in  his  Life — Mr.  Mills — A  Generous 
Offer — Goes  to  the  Academy  at  Washington,  Georgia — An  Imperfect  Under 
standing — Mr.  A.  H.  Webster — Adopts  the  Name  of  Hamilton — Mr.  A.  L. 
Alexander  .............  41 

CHAPTER    V. 

Goes  to  the  University — Expects  to  enter  the  Ministry — Happy  Days — A  Piece 
of  rare  Good  Luck — Diligence  in  Study — Social  Enjoyments — One  Shadow — 
A  Silent  Struggle  and  a  Final  Resolution — A  Debt  discharged  .  .  .53 

CHAPTER    VI. 

More  College  Reminiscences — The  Pig  in  Class — Standing  at  Graduation — Dr. 
Church  and  his  Family — Journal — Goes  to  Madison  and  teaches  School — 
Unhappiness — Leaves  Madison — A  Secret  Sorrow  .  .  .  .  .60 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

•  PAOK 

A  Private  Class— Mr.  Le  Conte— A  Liberal  Offer  declined— Goes  to  Crawford- 
ville  and  begins  to  study  for  the  Bar — Hard  Work — A  Damper — Journal — 
An  Anniversary — Begins  to  study  Politics — President  Jackson  and  the  Bank 
— Despondency — First  Fee  offered  and  declined — Height,  Weight,  and  Per 
sonal  Appearance »'•-...'.  .  .70 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Journal — Youthful  Judgments — Forebodings — ./Esthetic  Criticisms — Opinion  of 
Railroads — Solitude — First  Plea — Self-Censure — Ambition — A  Critical  Period 
— Out  of  the  Depths — Dr.  Foster  and  his  Prescription — Moves  to  Uncle  Bird's 
— A  Shock  to  Modesty — A  Narrow  Escape — A  Fourth  of  July  Speech — Ad 
hesion  to  the  Doctrine  of  State  Right? — Right  of  Secession — Admission  to 
the  Bar  '" ~ -T*""' 78 

CHAPTER    IX. 

First  Case — "Riding  the  Circuit  "—First  Fee  taken— Hezekiah  Ellington-»-A 
Desperate  Strait  and  a  Convincing  Argument — A  "Revival"  and  the  Scenes 
there — Increase  of  Business — Buys  a  Horse — An  Exciting  Case — A  Great 
Speech  and  its  Effects 90 

CHAPTER    X. 

A  Hard  Winter — A  Friendly  Rival  and  an  Accurate  Prediction — An  Offer — A 
Trip  "Out  West" — An  Indian  Host  and  his  Family — Interview  with  Presi 
dent  Jackson — Uncle  James  Stephens — -A  Toast — Dr.  Foster  again — Friendly 
Counsels — Georgia  Railroads  ..........  98 

CHAPTER    XL 

Political  Review— The  Two  Great  Questions— The  National  and  Federal  Plans— 
The  Two  Parties — Powers  of  the  Federal  Government  and  of  the  States — 
Great  and  Small  States — Meaning  of  the  Two  Houses  of  Congress — Different 
Interests  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  States — Apportionment  of  Represen 
tation — The  "  Three-fifths  Clause" — The  Tariff — The  North  wishes  to  cede 
to  Spain  the  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi — Ingenious  Strategy — The  "Alien 
and  Sedition  Acts"— Resolutions  of  1798  and  1799— War  of  1812— Acqui 
sition  of  Louisiana — Mr.  Quincy,  of  Massachusetts — The  "  Missouri  Compro 
mise*'  made  and  broken — Mr.  Clay's  Compromise — "Internal  Improvements" 
— "Protective"  Tariffs — "Nullification"  Movement  in  South  Carolina — A 
Threatened  Collision — Northern  and  Southern  Democrats  ....  109 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Mr.  Stephens  Elected  to  the  State  Legislature — Speech  on  the  Railroad  Bill — 
Letter  of'  Hon.  I.  L.  Harris — Severe  Illness — Controversy  with  Dr.  Mercer — 
Re-election — Voyage  to  Boston — Letters  to  Linton  Stephens — Visits  to  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland — Tries  the  White  Sulphur  Springs  with 
Advantage — Friendship  for  Mr.  Toombs  .......  125 


CONTENTS.  ]  1 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

PAGE 

Improved  Health — Delegate  to  Southern  Commercial  Convention — Answer  to 
Mr.  Preston — "My  Son" — Linton  at  the  University — Fourth  of  July  Cele 
brations  in  Auld  Lang  Syne — Grand  Doings  at  Crawfordville — A  Speech — 
"  Caesar  and  Poinpey" — Independence  of  Party — The  Whigs — Uncertainty  of 
the  State-Rights  Party— Re-election  to  the  Legislature  .  .  .  .,  .  .132 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Transition  of  the  State-Rights  Party — Error  of  the  Georgians — Law  Business 
— Letters  to  Linton — Views  on  Scholarship,  Aristocracy,  and  the  Devil — 
Literary  Criticism — Religious  Beliefs — Visit  to  the  Gold  Region — Political 
Parties 140 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Declines  Re-nomination  to  the  Legislature — Letters  to  Linton — Philosophy  of 
Living — Death  of  President  Harrison — Advice  to  Linton — Serious  Illness — 
Election  to  State  Senate— Reports  of  Committees— The  Tariff  of  1842— Breach 
of  the  Compromise  of  1833 — Debate  on  Federal  Relations — The  Minority 
Report — Principles  of  the  Georgia  Whigs — Resolutions.  .  .  .  .  148 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Journey  to  Florida — A  House  of  Mourning — The  Rays — Nomination  to  Con 
gress — Discussion  with  Judge  Colquitt — The  Tables  turned — Election  of  Mr. 
Stephens — Death  of  Aaron  Grier  Stephens 169 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Debate  in  Congress — Humors  of  Mr.  Cobb — Correspondence — Presidential  Can 
vass — Anecdotes  ............  176 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Judge  Story — Mr.  Clay — A  Great  Crowd — Annexation  of  Texas — Speech  on 
Brown's  Resolutions — Oregon — Anecdote  of  General  Clinch  ....  183 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Domestic  Arrangements — Trip  to  Florida — Home  News  and  Surgical  Practice 
— Deaths  of  Friends — A  "Real  Soaker"— -Election  of  Governor  Crawford  .  194 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Connection  with  the  Whigs — Opinion  of  President  Polk — Dispute  with  Mexico 
—War  breaks  out — Correspondence — The  Oregon  Question — Opinion  of  Mr. 
Calhoun — State  of  Things  in  Congress — Speech  on  the  Mexican  War — Letter 
of  Judge  McLean — Misunderstanding  with  the  Hon.  Herschel  V.  Johnson — 
A  Challenge  sent  and  refused  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  200 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXL 

PAGE 

Position  of  the  Whigs — Resolutions  on  the  Mexican  War — Their  Effect — Danger 
ahead — The  Wilmot  Proviso — The  "Missouri  Compromise"  repudiated — 
Speech  on  the  Mexican  Appropriation  Bill — A  Queer  Genius — Speech  of  Mr. 
Toombs — Election  of  a  Speaker — Cure  for  Melancholy 210 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Presidential  Nominations — Opinion  of  Mr.  Calhoun — Mr.  Clay — Anecdotes — 
A  Conversation  and  a  Prophecy — Death  of  Mr.  Adams — Nomination  of 
General  Taylor— The  "Allison"  Letters— Slavery  in  the  Territories— The 
Clayton  Compromise — Speech  of  August  7th — Returns  to  Georgia — Difficulty 
with  Judge  Cone — Mr.  Stephens's  Life  attempted — Public  Indignation  .  224 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  Abolitionists  in  1848— Rise  of  the  Free-Soil  Party— State  of  Feeling  at 
Washington— Attitude  of  Southern  Whigs— The  Vote  for  Speaker— Duty  of 
the  South— A  Bad  State  of  Things— Signs  of  a  Coming  Catastrophe  .  .  236 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster  in  the  Senate — Signs  of  the  Times — President  Tay 
lor's  Policy — lAjGrlance  into  the  Future — Dismemberment  of  the  Union  inevi 
table — What  the  South  should  do — Mr.  Clay's  Compromise  Resolutions — 
Mr.  Clay's  Speech — A  Sketch  of  the  Scene  and  the  Audience — Sorrow  for  a 
Humble  Friend— A  Wedding  in  Low  Life— Death  of  Calhoun— The  Galphin 
Claim— Seward's  Plot— The  Secretary  of  State  and  Sir  Henry  Bulwer— "  A 
most  Wonderful  Characteristic  of  our  People" — Sits  for  his  Portrait — Hot 
Debates  in  both  Houses — Principle  of  Non-interference  established — Death 
of  President  Taylor— Passage  of  Mr.  Clay's  Bill  and  Renewed  Pledges  of  the 
Northern  States — Georgia  Resolutions — Jenny  Lind  .....  243 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

Rio  the  Dog — The  Secret  of  Mr.  Stephens's  Life — The  Campaign  of  1851 — Re 
election  to  the  House — Disappointed  Curiosity — An  Anecdote  .  .  .  261 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Louis  Kossuth — Speech  in  Baltimore — Marriage  of  Linton — Demoralization  of 
the  Whig  Party — A  Card — A  Vote  for  a  Dead  Candidate — Address  at  Emory 
College — Reminiscences  of  Childhood — A  Sad  Year — The  Galphin  Claim — • 
Mr.  Stephens's  Speech  on  the  Bill  to  prevent  Frauds — Severe  Accident  to  Mr. 
Stephens— Sickness— Two  Humble  Friends 266 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

New  Tactics  of  the  Agitators — The  Personal  Liberty  Bills — The  Pledges  of 
1850  to  be  broken — Speech  of  February  17th — The  Nebraska  Bill — The 
Kansas  War — Death  of  Mrs.  Ray — A  Georgia  Corn-Shucking — A  Visit  from 
"Uncle  Ben" — Speech  of  December  14th — Christpias-E  ve — The  Kno  w-Nothing 
Party  .  . ' 275 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

PAGE 

A  Complimentary  Dinner — Reply  to  Mr.  Campbell — Letter  on  Know-Nothingism 
— Becomes  a  Candidate  for  Re-election — Speech  at  Augusta — Linton's  Nomi 
nation — The  Campaign — Mr.  Stephens  elected — Dead-Lock  in  the  House — 
Advice  to  the  President  .  .  ».,...  .287 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Debate  with  Mr.  Zollicoffer — Election  of  Mr.  Banks — A  Plausible  Scamp  and 
a  Domestic  Tragedy — The  Minority  Report  on  the  Kansas  Election — Anecdote 
of  Mr.  Hale — Speech  on  the  Kansas  Election — News  from  Kansas — Speech 
on  the  Admission  of  Kansas — Death  of  John  Stephens — Correspondence  with 
Mr.  Johnston — Negligence  of  Southern  Representatives — Challenges  Mr.  B. 
H.  Hill 302 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

Adroit  Strategy  of  the  Republicans— Their  Rapid  Growth— The  Dred  Scott 
Case — Speech  on  the  President's  Message — Death  of  Mrs.  Linton  Stephens — 
Sad  and  Solemn  Thoughts — Remarks  upon  Pickpockets — Mr.  Douglas  .  .  317 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Kansas  again — Walker  the  Filibuster — Interview  with  the  President — "A 
Battle-Royal" — Defection  of  Southern  Know-Nothings — A  Hard  Struggle — 
Intense  Anxiety — Kansas  Bill  passes  both  Houses — Speech  on  the  Admission 
of  Minnesota — A  Bird_of_J[ll-omjen — British  War-Steamer  Styx — A  Reception 
at  Athens — The  Orator  in  a  Panic — A  Summer  Tour—  No  Desire  for  the 
Presidential  Nomination — Visit  to  President  Buchanan  ....  328 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

A  Mysterious  Confidence — Overwork — A  Young  Protegee — Ophthalmic  Sur 
gery — The  Blind  Dog's  Guide — Busts  of  Mr.  Stephens — The  Mariner  in 
Port — Linton  on  the  Bench — Home  Troubles — Farewell  Dinner  offered  him 
by  Congress — Public  Dinner  at  Augusta — A  Farewell  Speech — Warning  to 
President  Buchanan — A  True  Prophecy — Canine  Psychology — Address  at 
the  University  of  Georgia — Law  Business — A  Rule  adopted — Plans  for  the 
Future 340 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

The  Family  at  Liberty  Hall — A  Cautious  Passenger — Favors  the  Nomination 
of  Mr.  Douglas — Charleston  Convention — Baltimore  Convention,  and  the  Split 
in  the  Democratic  Party — Four  Candidates  in  the  Field — Mr.  Stephens's 
Views  and  Apprehensions — Letter  of  Advice — The  Plan  of  Safety — Duty  of 
the  Party — Sickness — Signs  of  Approaching  Rabies — "  He  is  Insane  !" — Elec 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Feeling  at  the  South — Speech  at  Milledgeville — 
Impression  produced — Anecdote — Letters  from  Northern  Men — Correspond 
ence  with  Mr.  Lincoln  ...........  351 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

PAQ« 

Feeling  at  the  South — Secession  of  South  Carolina — Conventions  called  by  the 
other  States — Views  of  Mr.  Stephens — Real  Causes  of  Complaint — Secession 
Rightful,  but  not  Expedient — Will  abide  by  his  State — Thoughts  and  Mem 
ories — A  Storm  and  a  Speech — Break-up  of  the  Cabinet — Fort  Pulaski  secured 
— Convention  at  Milledgeville — Speech — Ordinance  of  Secession  passed — A 
Forged  Speech — Sent  to  Montgomery — Formation  of  the  Provisional  Govern 
ment — Elected  Vice-President — Inaugurated — The  Constitution — Toombsand 
Cobb — Relations  with  Mr.  Davis — Anticipations  .  .  .  .  .  .  374 

CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Peace  Congress — Commissioners  appointed  to  the  United  States  Government — 
How  Mr.  Davis  was;  nominated — Character  of  the  Confederate  Congress — The 
South  and  the  West — Hopes  and  Fears — Action  of  the  Federal  Government — 
Secretary  Seward's  "  Faith" — A  Declaration  of  War — Speech  at  Savannah — 
Capture  of  Fort  Srmter — Call  for  Seventy-five  Thousand  Men — Secession  of 
Virginia — Sent  as  Commissioner  to  Richmond — The  19th  of  April  in  Balti 
more — Excitement  throughout  the  South — Convention  between  Virginia  and 
the  Confederate  States — Financial  Policy  of  Mr.  Stephens — Death  of  Mr. 
Douglas — Linton  joins  the  Army — Mr.  Stephens  in  Richmond  .  .  .388 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

Discouragements — Policy  of  Conscription — Richmond  Hospitals — Military  Op 
erations — Conversations — How  Mr.  Davis  was  nominated — Prospects — Pros 
pects  of  European  Recognition — Resistance  to  Martial  Law — State  of  Things 
North  and  South — Letter  to  James  M.  Calhoun — Speech  at  Crawfordville — 
Financial  Policy — Education  of  Young  Men — Relations  with  Mr.  Davis — 
Views  on  Men  and  Matters  ..........  408 

CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

The  Conscript  Law — Sir  Bingo  Binks — Lord  Lyons  and  Seward — Canine  No 
menclature — Linton's  Resolutions — Generals  Lee  and  Johnston — Death  of 
Rio — A  Tribute  to  an  Old  Friend — Religion — Confederate  Bonds — Military 
Operations — Exchange  of  Prisoners — Proposed  Mission  to  Washington — 
Speeches— Home  News 429 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

Sudden  Illness — Hospitality  of  Liberty  Hall — An  Emergency — Speech  before 
the  Legislature — "Habeas  Corpus"  and  "  Peace"  Resolutions — Weather  Notes 
— Reminiscences  of  Governor  Troup — A  Night  Adventure  and  an  Escape — 
A  Cynic  Philosopher — Notes  of  Travel — Wounded  Soldiers — Sherman  ap 
proaching — The  Chicago  Convention — Letter  to  Georgia  Gentlemen — General 
Sherman's  Device  and  its  Failure — Plans  of  Adjustment — Thinks  of  Resign 
ing — Judge  Taney's  Decision 452 


CONTEXTS.  15 

CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

PAGE 

Difficulty  with  the  Senate — Address  before  them — Change  of  Policy  recom 
mended — Sympathy  for  Prisoners — Resolutions — The  Hampton  Roads  Con 
ference —  Exchange  of  Prisoners — Declines  to  speak  at  Richmond — Returns 
to  Crawfordville — Letter  about  the  Conference — Sherman's  Advance — Lee's 
Surrender — Arrest  of  Mr.  Stephens — Imprisonment  in  Fort  Warren — Linton 
joins  him — Prison  Journal — Release — Life  at  Liberty  Hall — Declines  to  bo  a 
Candidate  for  the  United  States  Seuatorship — Urgency  of  his  Friends — His 
Election — Not  allowed  to  take  his  Seat — Address  to  Georgia  Legislature — 
Summoned  before  "Reconstruction  Committee" — Philadelphia  Convention — 
His  Opinions  of  Seward,  Stanton,  and  Grant — Undertakes  a  History  of  the 
War — Sufferings  from  Renal  Calculus 477 

CHAPTER    XL. 

Publication  of  First  Volume  of  his  History  of  the  War — An  Accident — Attacks 
upon  him — The  Southern  Review — Replies — Elected  Professor  in  University 
of  Georgia — Declines — Opinion  of  the  Linton  Correspondence — Attacked 
with  Inflammatory  Rheumatism — Proposes  final  Retirement  from  Public  Life 
— A  Severe  Trial — History  finished — Another  begun — Law  Students — Con 
nection  with  the  Western  Atlantic  Railway — Judge  Stephens  arrested  but 
no  Bill  found — Letter  to  his  Students — Opinion  of  President  Grant — The 
Atlanta  Sun 49-1 

CHAPTER    XL  I. 

Situation  of  Affairs  in  the  South — The  "  New  Departure" — Mr.  Greeley — Pluck, 
the  Dog — Life  at  Liberty  Hall — Death  of  Judge  Linton  Stephens — A  Crush 
ing  Sorrow — Contest  for  Election  to  the  Senate 508 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

Candidate  for  Congress — Civil  Rights  Bill — Speech  of  January  5th — Serious 
Illness— The  Salary  Act — Re-elected — Controversy  with  the  Hon.  B.  H.  Hill 
— Withdraws  from  the  Atlanta  Sun  with  heavy  loss — Action  on  the  Louisiana 
Report — Fourth  of  July  at  Atlanta — Liberty  Hall  again — Sunday-School 
Celebration  at  Crawfordville — Re-election — Appearance  in  the  House — At 
tack  of  Pneumonia — Report  of  his  Death — Views  on  the  Electoral  Commis 
sion — Mr.  Stephens  in  Congress — Speech  at  the  uncovering  of  Carpenter's 
Picture 519 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 

Congressional  Duties — Re-elected  to  Congress — General  R.  Taylor's  charges — Facts  of 
his  Release  from  Fort  Warren — Interviewers — A  Georgia  Dinner — Writes  a  Book 
— James  P.  Espy — His  Seventieth  Birthday — An  Accident — Elected  Governor — 
Pardons — The  Sesqui-Centennial — Illness— Death — Concluding  Remarks  .  539 

APPENDICES .  559-629 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  Stephens  Family — The  Fugitive  Jacobite— An  Idyll  on  the  Juniata— 
Removal  to  Georgia — Andrew  B.  Stephens — Purchase  of  the  Homestead — 
The  Grier  Family — Marriage  of  Andrew  B.  Stephens— Birth  of  Alexan 
der — Second  Marriage  of  Andrew  B.  Stephens — Birth  of  Linton  Stephens 
— Marriages 

AMONG  the  Jacobites  who  quitted  England,  some  from  appre 
hension  and  some  from  disgust,  upon  the  disastrous  ending  of 
the  ill-advised  attempt  known  as  "the  Forty-five,"  was  one 
Alexander  Stephens,  the  grandfather  of  him  whose  biography 
we  have  in  hand.  With  some  small  means,  and  with  aims  as 
definite  as  are  usually  held  by  adventurous  exiles  who  leave 
their  native  country  to  seek  homes  and  fortunes  in  other  lands, 
he  reached  Pennsylvania,  and  at  first  sought  shelter  with  the 
Shawnee  Indians,  at  a  spot  not  far  from  where  the  town  of 
Chambersburgh  now  stands. 

A  young  man  of  spirit  and  energy,  just  grown  to  manhood, 
who  had  been  in  one  war  and  crossed  an  ocean  to  better  his  for 
tunes,  was  not  likely  to  remain  long  with  a  savage  tribe,  how 
ever  friendly  their  treatment,  and  whatever  peril  might  attend 
his  departure.  His  movements  have  not  been  precisely  chroni 
cled;  but  we  know  thnt  when  the  French  and  Indian  War  broke 
out,  he  enlisted  under  Washington,  and  was  present  at  Braddock's 
defeat.  What  befell  him  immediately  after  this  is  not  known ; 
but  his  subsequent  wanderings  brought  him  to  the  ferry  at  the 
junction  of  the  Juniata  and  Susquehanna  Rivers.  The  Juniata 
is  somewhat  of  a  classic  and  poetic  stream,  or  at  least  used  to  be, 

2  17 


18  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

forty  years  ago,  when  a  ballad  commemorative  of  the  charms  of 
"The  Blue  Juniata"  was  much  affected  by  sentimental  songsters. 
Alexander  Stephens  was  hot  accounted  a  poet  in  his  day,  so  far 
as  we  have  heard,  yet  he  bore  an  important  part  in  a  small  poem 
whose  scene  was  laid  on  the  banks  of  this  river.  The  owner  of 
the  ferry  was  a  wealthy  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Baskins,  and 
among  other  children  he  had  a  daughter,  with  whom  the  young 
Jacobite  made  acquaintance.  Whether  her  personal  attractions 
borrowed  or  needed  any  aid  from  the  romantic  scenery  amid 
which  she  dwelt,  or  the  goodly  estate  which  she  had  the  prospect 
of  inheriting,  and  whether  his  own  were  enhanced  by  the  dangers 
he  had  seen  and  escaped,  we  cannot  now  say.  But  these  two 
young  persons,  in  the  course  of  time,  found  each  other's  society 
so  agreeable,  that  they  resolved  to  enjoy  it  for  life.  Mr.  Bas 
kins,  having  made  other  arrangements  for  his  daughter  better 
suited  to  his  taste,  refused  his  consent  to  their  union,  and  threat 
ened  to  disinherit.  But  the  young  lady  was  not  to  be  moved  by 
such  considerations ;  so  against  her  father's  will  she  married  her 
young  adventurer  and  united  her  fortunes  with  his.  Her  father's 
house  was  now  no  longer  a  home  for  her;  and  although  the  couple 
sued  for  pardon,  Mr.  Baskins  was  inexorable.  In  the  course 
of  time  the  War  of  Independence  broke  out,  and  Alexander, 
who  had  not  seen  enough  of  such  things,  took  a  part  in  this. 
He  served  through  the  war,  and  at  its  close  retired,  with  the  rank 
of  captain,  to  the  house  he  had  made  for  himself  on  the  Juniata. 
Finding  it  still  impossible  to  conciliate  his  obdurate  father-in- 
law,  and  the  latter  dying  some  time  after,  leaving  a  will  in  which 
his  threats  of  disinheriting  were  carried  out,  Mr.  Stephens  deter 
mined  to  remove. 

By  this  time  he  had  quite  a  family  of  children  :  three  sons — 
James,  Nehemiah,  and  Andrew  B. — and  five  daughters, — Cath 
erine,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  Sarah,  and  Jane.  He  first  went  to  Elbert 
County,  in  the  State  of  Georgia;  but  did  not  long  remain  there, 
soon  removing  again  to  the  adjoining  county  of  Wilkes,  where 
he  took  up  his  abode  on  rented  land,  on  the  banks  of  Kettle 
Creek. 

James,  the  eldest  son,  on  reaching  his  majority,  went  back  to 
the  old  neighborhood  in  Pennsylvania,  where  his  descendants 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  19 

still  live.  Nehemiah  went  to  Tennessee.  Andrew  B.,  alone  of 
the  sons,  stayed  with  his  parents,  as  did  Jane,  the  other  daugh 
ters  marrying  in  time — Mary,  a  Jones  ;  Catherine,  a  Coulter ; 
Sarah,  a  Hudgins ;  and  Elizabeth,  a  Kellogg. 

Captain  Alexander  Stephens,  it  seemed,  had  been  too  much 
among  wars  to  be  well  fitted  for  the  arts  of  peace.  He  continued 
to  live  on  rented  land ;  and  now  that  James  and  Nehemiah  were 
gone,  his  only  reliance  for  help  from  his  children  was  on  his 
youngest  son.  Andrew  B.,  in  mere  boyhood,  had  shown  much 
taste  and  aptitude  for  farming ;  and  he  worked  on  the  farm  at 
Kettle  Creek,  and  went  to  school  in  the  neighborhood  at  times 
when  his  services  could  be  spared.  He  made  such  progress  in 
his  studies  that  his  father  strained  a  point  and  sent  him  to  the 
school  in  Washington  (then  the  county  seat)  kept  by  the  Rev. 
Hope  Hull,  afterwards  one  of  the  leading  ministers  of  the  Meth 
odist  Church.  This  was  a  famous  school  at  that  day.  Andrew 
B.  Stephens  stood  high  in  the  master's  estimation,  as  we  may 
judge  from  the  following  incident.  When  he  was  fourteen  years 
old,  a  committee  of  gentlemen  residing  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
county,  on  the  south  side  of  Little  River,  being  desirous  of 
having  a  school  on  a  better  foundation  than  such  as  they  were 
accustomed  to,  waited  upon  Mr.  Hull,  and  desired  him  to  name 
one  of  his  pupils  who  was  fit  for  their  pu^rpose.  Mr.  Hull  at 
once  named  Andrew  B.  Stephens,  who,  though  surprised  at  the 
decision,  as  were  the  other  pupils  and  the  committee,  accepted 
the  call,  opened  his  school,  and  began  teaching  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  patrons. 

The  young  schoolmaster  made  good  use  of  his  first  earnings. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  year  he  bought  a  hundred  acres  of  land, 
paying  part, of  the  purchase-money  in  cash,  and  giving  his  bond' 
for  the  rest.  To  this  place  his  father  and  sister  Jane  removed, 
and  the  former  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  there.  His 
mother  had  died  on  the  farm  on  Kettle  Creek.  This  hundred-j 
acre  tract  was  the  nucleus  of  that  homestead  which,  except  for  a 
few  years  after  the  death  of  Andrew  B.,  has  ever  since  been  in ' 
the  possession  of  the  family.  Andrew  B.,  however,  did  not  yet 
reside  with  his  father  and  sister.  He  continued  to  teach  school 
until  he  was  of  age  and  married,  except  for  two  years,  when  he 


20  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store.  When  he  married, 
he  went  to  live  on  this  farm. 

His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Grier.  The  Griers  had 
emigrated  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  they  too  had  settled  in 
Pennsylvania.  We  can  trace  the  Griers  no  farther  back  than 
two  brothers,  Robert  and  Thomas.  From  one  of  these  the  late 
Justice  Grier,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  was 
descended.  From  the  other  sprang  a  branch  of  the  family  which 
removed  to  Georgia  about  1769.  Aaron  Grier  was  one  of  these, 
and  it  was  his  daughter  Margaret  whom  Andrew  B.  Stephens 
married.  After  his  marriage,  his  father  lived  with  him  at  the 
homestead  until  his  death  in  the  year  1813.  His  daughter  Jane 
had  died  before ;  so  that  Andrew  B.  and  his  family  were  left 
the  only  occupants  of  the  farm.  Jane  did  not  die  on  the  place, 
but  was  buried  there  in  the  old  family  burying-ground,  where 
her  father  was  laid  by  her  side. 

To  Andrew  B.  and  Margaret,  his  wife,  were  born  three  chil 
dren  :  Mary,  Aaron  Grier,  and  Alexander.  Their  mother  was 
of  a  frail  constitution,  though  her  fresh  and  rosy  complexion 
seemed  the  sign  of  robust  health.  Mild,  industrious,  charitable, 
intelligent,  she  was,  in  the  true,  old-fashioned  sense  of  the  word, 
a  "helpmeet"  for  her  husband.  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter, 
married  very  young,  and  died  soon  after.  Aaron  Grier  lived 
to  manhood,  and  married  Sarah  A.  Slayton,  of  Wilkes  County. 
He  was  a  man  of  very  retiring  disposition,  great  good  sense,  and 
exemplary  character.  He  died  in  1843,  leaving  his  widow  with 
one  child,  a  son,  who  did  not  long  survive.  The  widow  yet  lives, 
and  has  never  married  again.  Reference  will  again  be  made  to 
this  excellent  man  when  we  shall  have  reached  the  period  in 
this  biography  contemporary  with  his  death. 

ALEXANDER,  the  youngest  child,  and  the  subject  of  this  biog- 

'raphy,  was  born  on  February  llth,  1812.    His  mother  survived 

him  but  a  short  time,  dying  on  the  12th  of  the  following  May, 

and  her  grave  was  the  first  made  in  what  was  then  the  new 

burying-ground  at  the  homestead. 

After  the  death  of  his  wife  Margaret,  Andrew  B.  Stephens 
was  again  married,  to  Matilda  Lindsay,  the  daughter  of  Colonel 
John  Lindsay,  distinguished  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  From 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II,  STEPHENS.  21 

this  marriage  sprang  four  sons — John  L.,  Andrew  Baskins,  Ben 
jamin  F.,  and  Lin  ton — and  a  daughter, — Catherine  B. ;  of  whom 
only  John  L.,  Catherine,  and  Linton  lived  to  majority.  \  John 
L.  married  Elizabeth  Booker,  of  Wilkes.  He  died  in  1856, 
leaving  a  widow,  two  daughters,  and  four  sons.  Catherine,  the 
daughter,  married  Thomas  Greer,  of  Talbot  County,  and  died 
in  1857. 

Linton  Stephens  married,  in  1852,  Emmeline  Bell,  widow  of 
George  Bell,  of  Hancock  County,  and  only  daughter  of  the  late 
Hon.  James  Thomas,  former  judge  of  the  northern  circuit.  This 
lady  died  in  1857,  leaving  three  daughters ;  and  ten  years  after 
wards,  in  1867,  Linton  Stephens  married  again,  his  wife  being 
Miss  Mary  \V.  Salter,  of  Boston.  He  died  July  14th,  1872, 
leaving  one  son  and  two  daughters  by  his  second  marriage. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  "  Giles  and  Finkle"  Correspondence — Early  Eecollections — School 
master  Day — Georgia  "Old-Field  Schools" — A  Mutiny — Barring  out — 
The  Inquisitive  Owl — Schoolmaster  Duffie  and  his  Advice. 

ALLUSION  has  already  been  made  in  the  Preface  to  the  Giles 
and  Finkle  correspondence,  and  how  "Mr.  Giles/7  perceiving 
with  how  much  greater  freedom  Mr.  Stephens  expressed  himself 
with  regard  to  his  personal  affairs  when  writing  in  the  character 
of  a  third  person,  requested  "  Mr.  Finkle"  to  give  him  some  of 
the  incidents  of  the  boyhood  of  "  Boss,"  as  that  personage  chose 
to  designate  his  friend  and  patron.  On  the  5th  of  April,  1863, 
the  following  reply  was  received : 

"APRIL  4th,  1863. 

"DEAR  JEEMS, — Boss  and  I  were  at  the  Homestead  when  your  letter 
came  yesterday.  Boss  has  been  down  there  all  this  week.  He  stays  there 
now  the  most  of  his  time  when  at  home.  Just  before  Tim  [a  colored  boy 
then  belonging  to  Mr.  Stephens,  since  dead]  brought  the  letter,  we  were 
out  in  the  field  before  the  house,  where  the  hands  were  planting  corn,  and 
Boss  was  showing  how  to  cover  it. 

li  While  he  was  thus  engaged,  a  Mr.  Thomas  Akins,  from  Greene  County, 
came  to  see  him  on  some  business  connected  with  a  son  he  had  in  the  army. 
So  Boss  stopped,  and  after  talking  about  the  business  until  they  got  through, 
Mr.  Akins  said,  'I  was  never  in  this  part  of  the  country  before.  These 
hills  are  all  new  to  me.' 

"  Boss  replied,  '  They  are  not  new  to  me.  My  earliest  recollections 
and  associations  are  connected  with  these  scenes,  though  they  are  wonder 
fully  changed  since  then.  I  recollect  when  this  field  was  cleared.  It  was 
a  square  ten-acre  field,  just  forty  rods  square.  The  first  crop  was  grown 
on  it  in  1818,  the  dry  year.  The  land  was  rich  then.  It  was  always 
called  '  the  new  ground,'  as  long  as  I  lived  here.  Right  over  yonder,  on 
that  hill,  I  was  born,  and  right  along  here  I  was  ploughing  when  I  was 
sent  for  to  go  to  the  house.  Father  was  worse.  It  was  the  day  before  he 
died  ;  Saturday,  May  the  sixth,  1826.  Just  up  there  I  took  out  my  horse, 
little  dreaming  it  was  for  the  last  time.  The  land  looked  very  different 
then  from  what  it  does  now.' 
22 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  23 

"  MR.  A. — '  It  must  be  interesting  to  you  to  visit  these  fields,  crowded  as 
they  are  with  so  many  recollections.' 

"  Boss. — 'Oh,  yes.  I  take  more  interest  in  reclaiming  these  old  worn- 
out  fields  than  in  anything  else.  It  is  almost  a  hopeless  undertaking  $  but 
it  affords  me  a  strange  pleasure.  I  spend  all  my  spare  time  here.  I  can 
every  day  bring  to  memory  some  old  forgotten  incident  which  awakens 
whole  trains  of  thought  that  filled  my  mind  in  childhood.  These  I  like  to 
dwell  upon :  they  seem  to  give  strength  and  durability  to  the  continuity 
of  my  existence.  In  the  midst  of  them  I  see  less  change  in  myself  than 
in  nature  around  me.  That  very  rock  yonder,  the  other  day,  brought  back 
to  my  mind  vividly  one  of  the  earliest  experiences  I  ever  had  on  the  sub 
ject  of  religion.  You  see  that  big  gray  rock  there  :  it  is  split  from  top  to 
bottom.  Well,  when  this  land  was  cleared,  that  split  or  crack  in  the  rock 
attracted  my  attention.  I  could  not  conceive  what  had  caused  it.  I  asked 
my  father  what  did  it.  lie  said  he  did  not  know,  but  it  was  supposed  by 
learned  men  that  it  was  done  when  Christ  was  crucified:  that  the  Scrip 
tures  said  the  rocks  were  rent-,  and  he  said  that  large  rocks  of  this  kind 
all  over  the  country  were  cracked  as  this  one  was.  This  led  on  to  a  full 
account  by  him  of  the  crucifixion  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  the  na 
ture  of  Redemption, — the  first,  I  think,  that  I  ever  had,  as  I  can  recollect 
none  earlier.  Strange  to  say,  I  had  entirely  forgotten  this,  until  a  few 
days  ago,  while  I  was  having  these  ditches  made,  being  tired  I  sat  down  to 
rest  upon  that  rock,  and  looking  upon  the  split  in  it,  this  early  incident  of 
my  life  came  to  my  mind,  with  all  its  train  of  impressions,  thoughts,  and 
reflections.  So  with  almost  everything  about  here,  every  day  I  am  here  I 
find  something  recalling  memories, — some  of  them  back  to  within  three 
years  after  my  birth.  Nearer  than  that  to  the  beginning  of  my  existence 
I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  start  a  trace.  Some  things,  it  is  true,  float 
through  my  mind  as  shadows  or  dreams,  to  which  I  can  fix  no  date. 
Among  others,  I  remember  my  Aunt  Betsey  Grier  coming  to  see  us, 
her  crying,  and  taking  us  children  into  the  garden  to  the  grave  of  our 
mother.'  " 

When  this  letter  came,  "  Mr.  Giles"  felt  great  satisfaction  that 
he  had  thus  succeeded  in  getting  Mr.  Stephens  to  do  what  he 
had  been  asking  him  for  five  or  six  years  to  do, — to  put  down  in 
writing  some  recollections  of  his  boyhood.  He  had  never  posi 
tively  refused  in  so  many  words;  but  he  always  seemed  disposed 
to  avoid  conversation  on  that  subject,  though  he  would  fully  and 
freely  answer  any  questions  upon  anything  relating  to  himself. 
After  the  Giles  and  Finkle  correspondence  began,  and  at  a  time 
when  his  counsels  were  of  no  avail  for  the  country,  it  became  a 
relief  to  him  to  turn  away  from  the  contemplation  of  our  pub 
lic  distress  to  the  remembrances  of  his  early  years.  When  he 


24  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

had  once  fallen  into  the  habit  of  writing  upon  this  theme,  and 
especially  as  he  was  now  writing  under  an  imaginary  name  to 
an  imaginary  correspondent,  he  manifested  a  great  interest  in 
recording  these  remembrances,  and,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter, 
occasionally  wrote  with  much  feeling. 

Near  the  rock  alluded  to  in  this  letter  is  another.  It  is  out 
side  the  field,  over  the  road,  in  the  edge  of  the  wood.  On  one 
occasion  while  the  present  writer  was  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Stephens, 
and  we  had  ridden  to  the  homestead,  we  were  walking  in  this 
wood  and  came  to  the  rock.  It  is  a  high,  irregular  boulder. 
We  ascended  it,  and  the  following  dialogue  occurred : 

J. — "  Do  you  remember  anything  connected  with  this  rock  ?" 

S. — "  That  I  do.  This  wood  was  once  an  exceedingly  dense 
one.  It  seems  now  a  short  distance  across  the  field  yonder  to  the 
place  where  we  lived.  But  to  us  children,  when  all  the  inter 
vening  space  was  covered  with  wood,  this  was  considered  a  long 
way  from  home.  We  used  to  come  here  sometimes  to  gather 
honeysuckles  and  jessamine,  which  then  grew  in  great  abun 
dance  around  this  rock.  Often  and  often  have  I  clambered  to 
its  top.  But  in  early  childhood  this  was  about  the  limit  of  my 
wanderings,  unless  I  was  accompanied  by  some  older  person." 

The  letter  of  "  Mr.  Finkle,"  above  quoted  from,  gives  an 
account  of  a  further  conversation  between  Boss  and  Mr.  Akin : 

"  MR.  A. — '  Did  your  father  live  at  this  place  when  he  taught  school  at 
the  Cross  Roads  near  where  Mr.  Lindsay  used  to  live?  I  went  to  school 
to  him  in  1821.' 

"  Boss. — '  I  did  not  know  you  ever  went  to  school  to  him.' 

"  MR.  A. — '  I  went  to  him  for  about  six  months  at  the  Cross  Roads. 
How  far  is  that  from  here?' 

"Boss. — 'About  two  miles  and  a  half.  That  is  the  place  where  I  first 
went  to  school.  I  went  to  Mr.  Day — Nathaniel  Day — for  three  months, 
in  the  same  year  this  field  was  cleared,  1818.  There  was  a  young  man 
named  Benjamin  Bryant  whose  way  to  school  led  just  along  there,  and 
who  used  to  come  past  our  house  for  us  children.  He  was  a  large,  strong 
young  man,  and  he  used  to  carry  me  on  his  shoulders.  Some  years  ago, 
as  I  got  on  the  cars  at  Crawfordville,  on  my  way  to  Congress  at  Washing, 
ton,  I  saw  a  tall,  fine-looking  man  standing  on  the  platform,  and,  as  I 
heard,  making  inquiries  about  people  long  since  dead  or  moved  away.  I 
was  struck  with  his  appearance.  He  wore  a  long  black  beard,  not  then 
common  with  our  people.  At  Augusta  he  took  the  Charleston  train,  and 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  25 

when  we  got  there  he  took  the  Wilmington  boat.  At  Wilmington  he  took 
the  Weldon  train.  I  had  noticed  him  all  the  way.  We  were  seated  by 
each  other  that  day,  and  I  began  conversation  with  him.  He  inquired 
where  I  was  from.  I  told  him,  and  said  I  had  heard  him  inquiring  at  our 
depot  about  the  Littles  and  other  people,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  them. 
lie  answered  that  he  did :  that  he  was  reared  near  that  place.  He  then 
asked  my  name,  and  was  surprised  to  hear  that  Stephens,  member  of  Con 
gress  from  Georgia,  was  the  identical  little  automaton  that  he  used  to  carry 
on  his  shoulders  to  school.  He  was  the  same  Ben  Bryant,  then  living  in 
Texas;  had  grown  rich,  and  was  now  going  to  North  Carolina  on  a  visit. 
He  actually  cried  when  he  found  out  who  I  was.  He  left  the  train  ac 
Weidon,  and  we  parted  with  much  emotion  on  both  sides.  I  have  never 
seen  nor  heard  of  him  since.' 

"  MR.  A. — '  You  did  not  go  to  your  father's  school  at  the  same  time  that 
I  did  ?' 

"  Boss. — '  No ;  I  went  to  him  there  a  little  then  in  the  winter,  but  not 
in  the  summer.  I  went  in  the  fall  and  winter  for  about  three  months,  and 
about  the  same  time  the  year  before,  over  on  yonder  hill,  about  a  mile  off. 
that  was  called  the  Woodruff  Hill.  It  was  all  woods  then.  The  school- 
house  stood  first  on  that  knoll  yonder  that  looks  so  bare.'  " 

About  a  week  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter  another  came, 
from  which  we  make  some  extracts  : 

u  DEAR  GILES, — I  have  not  received  any  answer  to  my  last  letter  to  you  ; 
but  in  a  correspondence  like  ours  answers  and  replies  cannot  be  necessary, 
and  need  not  be  expected  as  punctually  as  is  usual  among  men  of  business. 
Ours  is  a  sort  of  written  conversation  upon  things  in  general  as  they  may 
arise ;  each  one  talking  or  writing  as  the  spirit  moves  him,  or  when  he 
has  anything  to  say,  if  it  be  only  to  relieve  4  his  laborin'  brest,'  as  you 
have  frequently  so  well  expressed  that  idea.  For  this  reason,  or  with 
these  feelings,  I  write  to  you  now.  Not  that  I  have  anything  particularly 
interesting  to  say  to  you,  or  to  talk  about;  but  just  because  I  feel  like 
talking  to  somebody  on  any  subject  that  may  arise,  simply  for  the  comfort 
of  the  mind.  Most  conversations,  I  have  noticed,  are  of  this  character. 
They  generally  begin  with  how  d'ye  do,  or  good-day,  or  some  salutation  of 
the  sort,  and  then  just  drift  along  as  the  current  of  incidents  or  associa 
tions  may  direct.  This,  after  all,  is  the  most  interesting  kind  of  conversa 
tion  to  me.  Your  staid  and  studied  talk,  measured  and  weighed,  was 
always  stiff  and  disagreeable  to  me.  It  is  like  going  to  see  a  friend,  and 
being  seated  in  a  fine  parlor  on  a  fine  mahogany  chair  with  a  round- 
cushioned  bottom  higher  in  the  middle  than  anywhere  else,  which  keeps 
you  sitting  bolt  upright,  with  no  chance  to  lean  back  or  turn  round,  except 
like  a  fellow  on  the  fool's  stool  in  school.  Now  I  would  about  as  soon  be 
in  purgatory  as  on  one  of  these  fine  fashionable  chairs.  They  were  made 
for  show  and  not  comfort.  Sometimes  I  have  thought  they  were  made  for 


26  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

discomfort,  to  put  people  in  an  uneasy  and  unnatural  posture  in  order  to 
make  them  leave  quick.  Give  me  an  old  split-bottom  chair  for  all  the 
world ;  and  not  too  low  at  that,  but  high  enough  for  the  legs  to  have  fair 
play,  to  be  stretched  out  or  drawn  up  or  crossed  at  pleasure,  and  in  which 
a  man  may  sit  upright  or  lean  back  or  rest  on  his  side,  just  as  he  may 
please.  That  is  the  sort  of  chair  for  me.  And  that  is  the  kind  of  talk, 
whether  spoken  or  written,  that  I  like,  which  flows  along  in  a  natural  way 
without  any  premeditation  or  stuffing." 

At  this  point  the  letter  branches  off  into  a  discussion  of  the 
comparative  value  of  spoken  and  written  sermons,  and  then 
comes  back  to  the  subject  of  talk  which  drifts  in  any  way  as 
accident  may  determine. 

"  Such  is  and  certainly  will  be  the  character  of  this  letter  from  begin 
ning  to  end,  for  my  mind  to-day  is  perfectly  afloat,  without  object  or 
aim." 

After  some  account  of  his  state  of  health,  "  Mr.  Finkle"  goes 
on  to  relate  an  anecdote  of  old  Mr.  Day,  to  whom  Mr.  Stephens 
first  went  as  a  scholar,  and  which  we  preserve  as  serving  to 
illustrate  some  of  the  ancient  doings  in  the  "  old-field  schools" 
in  Georgia. 

"  This  Mr.  Day  lived  very  near  the  house  of  Boss's  father  at  that  time, 
and  down  to  the  death  of  the  latter.  Soon  after  that  he  moved  up  to 
Walton  County,  where  he  lived  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  he  died  at  a 
very  great  age.  He  was  what  was  called  a  good  English  teacher  in  his 
day  and  section  of  country,  and  though  very  well  to  do  in  the  world  as 
to  property,  yet  he  occasionally  followed  the  calling  of  teacher  until  he 
became  too  old.  His  greatest  failing  was  his  fondness  for  a  dram.  He 
was  not  by  any  means  a  drunkard,  but  the  temptation  to  indulge  to  excess 
now  and  then  was  very  great  to  him.  He  often  got  '  disguised,'  as  it  was 
then  termed;  and  one  of  the  sayings  anciently  common  in  this  neighbor 
hood  was,  when  any  of  the  rustics  was  asked  to  take  anything  at  dinner 
or  on  any  similar  occasion,  'I  thank  you  5  I  will.  For  as  old  Nat  Day 
used  always  to  say,  when  asked  to  take  a  drink,  "I  never  refuse.  I  am 
particularly  fond  of  it."  ' 

"  Well,  the  boys  wanted  holiday  at  Whitsuntide,  and  as  Mr.  Day  had 
told  them  that  he  would  not  give  it,  they  entered  into  a  regular  conspiracy 
to  go  through  the  form,  of  barring  him  out.  All  the  big  boys  were  to  meet 
on  Monday  morning  and  bar  up  the  school-house  door,  and  refuse  to  let 
the  teacher  in  until  he  had  made  terms.  But  a  little  incident  interfered 
with  this  arrangement,  and  brought  affairs  to  an  earlier  dtnoument  than 
was  expected.  Henry  Perkins,  one  of  the  biggest  and  stoutest  boys  in 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  IL  STEPHENS.  27 

school  and  the  ringleader  of  the  plot,  on  Friday  before  did  something  that 
brought  him  a  scolding  from  Mr.  Day,  to  which  he  replied  with  some 
insolence  of  manner.  Day,  switch  in  hand,  called  him  up,  apparently 
with  the  intention  of  administering  punishment  there  and  then.  The 
expectation  of  Perkins  getting  a  whipping  produced  no  small  sensation. 
For  he  was  fully  grown,  and  had  never  been  whipped  since  the  school 
began.  He  had  great  liberties — he  was  &  cipherer!  and  all  cipherers  in 
those  days  had,  among  other  privileges,  that  of  going  out  and  staying  out 
when  they  pleased.  The  idea  of  a  cipherer  being  whipped  had  never 
before  dawned  as  a  possibility  upon  these  young  minds.  So  you  may 
imagine  that  expectation  was  on  tiptoe  when  Perkins  walked  up  sulkily. 
But  what  was  the  amazement,  the  consternation,  when,  instead  of  stand 
ing  out  to  receive  his  whipping,  he  was  seen  to  walk  up  to  the  man  with 
the  rod,  whose  authority  had  never  been  questioned  before,  and  seize  the 
switch  with  one  hand  and  the  collar  of  Mr.  Day  with  the  other !  A  short 
struggle  ensued.  Day  was  thrown  upon  the  floor.  All  the  other  boys 
who  were  in  the  conspiracy  joined  on  a  signal  from  Perkins,  and  held  the 
master  down  until  he  should  give  up.  The  little  children  screamed  and 
cried,  thinking  the  master  was  going  to  be  killed  or  otherwise  dreadfully 
maltreated. 

"  Boss  says  he  looked  on  with  interest,  but  without  fear  or  apprehension 
of  any  sort.  He  had  no  idea  that  the  boys  were  going  to  hurt  the  master ; 
though  he  knew  nothing  of  the  plan  or  object  of  the  revolt.  He  heard 
them  proposing  terms  :  and  it  was  finally  agreed  that  they  would  let  him 
up  if  he  would  dismiss  his  school  until  the  next  Wednesday,  and  send  one 
of  them  to  a  little  store  where  the  town  [Crawford ville]  is  now  situated 
for  a  gallon  of  spirits  to  treat  with.  The  treaty  was  agreed  to,  and  the 
master  was  allowed  to  rise.  A  boy  was  despatched  for  the  liquor.  Ben 
Bryant,  who  did  not  care  to  stay  for  the  frolic,  took  charge  of  his  little 
crowd,  and  left  for  home  before  the  return  of  the  messenger.  It  was  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Boss  and  his  company  ate  their  dinners 
out  of  their  baskets  on  their  way  home,  and  when  they  went  back  on 
Wednesday,  they  found  how  the  whole  matter  had  ended.  Most  of  the 
big  boys  stayed  until  the  spirits  came,  and  enjoyed  the  old  man's  treat 
heartily  with  him.  Finally,  they  broke  up  in  great  good  humor.  The 
master,  they  said,  did  get  a  little  disguised,  and  took  home  with  him  the 
jug  and  what  was  left  in  it  after  the  carousal." 

Doings  such  as  these  were  not  only  common,  but  almost  uni 
versal  in  Georgia  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  and  in 
deed  for  years  after.  Barring  out  the  schoolmaster  was  regarded 
in  the  light  of  an  established  usage  that  could  not  be  dispensed 
with.  Not  only  the  boys,  but  parents  and  even  teachers  were 
wont  to  recognize  its  ancient  authority,  without  expressing,  and 


28  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

apparently  without  feeling,  any  dissatisfaction.  This  liberty  was 
about  the  only  solace  which  the  children  of  those  days  had  in 
passing  through  that  fiery  ordeal  of  education,  whose  most  potent 
and  unfailing  instrument  was  the  hickory  rod.  In  the  hours  of 
study,  this  dread  implement  was  plied  from  Monday  morning 
early  until  Friday  evening  late,  with  merciless  persistency  on 
the  backs  and  legs  of  boys  and  girls,  and  no  amount  of  tears  or 
entreaties  at  school  or  at  home  could  mitigate  its  horrors.  Yet 
scarce  any  despotism  is  so  cruel  that  it  does  not  relax  sometimes ; 
so  at  Whitsuntide,  or  Easter,  or  upon  other  occasions  not  too 
frequent,  the  down-trodden  ones  were  by  general  consent  and 
universal  custom  allowed,  if  they  could,  to  turn  out  their  tyrant 
or  duck  him  in  the  branch.  At  such  times  he  would  have  been 
considered  a  mean  fellow  who  did  not  send  off  for  a  jug  of 
whiskey  and  divide  fairly  all  round.  When  this  feast  of  the 
Saturnalia  was  over,  tyrant  and  serfs  went  back  to  their  former 
estates  as  easily  and  naturally  as  if  no  temporary  enfranchisement 
had  occurred. 

Many  an  amusing  incident  has  been  handed  down  by  tradition 
from  those  old  times.  The  present  writer  can  just  remember  this 
old  Mr.  Day,  but  it  was  long  after  he  had  retired  from  the  pro 
fession.  When  he  was  "  disguised"  by  liquor  there  was  a  most 
absurd  mixture  of  fun  and  dignity  in  his  carriage  and  behavior. 
He  had  a  cook  whose  name  was  Sukey.  It  was  related  of  him 
that  on  a  day  when  he  was  returning  home  in  that  complex  state 
of  feelings  and  thoughts,  that  preposterous  resultant  of  buffoonery 
and  solemnity,  which  usually  followed  an  occasion  of  indulgence, 
and  was  passing  through  the  woods,  he  heard  the  hooting  of  a 
large  owl.  Now  the  rustics  of  that  day  used  to  maintain  that 
the  hoot  of  this  owl  contained  a  statement  of  fact  and  a  question, 
the  latter  of  which  was  propounded  to  every  one  who  might  be 
in  hearing.  It  ran  thus :  "  I  cook — for  myself:  who  cooks — 
for  YOU  ALL  ?"  So  when  Mr.  Day  heard  this  question  sharply 
put  to  him  in  a  magisterial  tone,  he  stopped,  raised  his  hat,  and 
promptly  answered,  uSuke,  sir." 

While  on  the  subject  of  old  Georgia  schoolmasters,  our 
readers  will  perhaps  forgive  us  if  we  mention  another,  though 
he  has  no  immediate  connection  with  our  narrative.  His  name 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  29 

was  Duffie,  and  he  swayed  the  rod  in  an  adjoining  county.  He 
was  a  preacher  as  well  as  teacher ;  and  in  the  latter  character  he 
wielded  the  hickory  and  took  his  dram,  in  all  respects  like  the 
rest  of  his  brethren.  He  was  a  great  politician,  and  took  a 
lively  interest  in  all  the  local  affairs  of  the  county.  One  Friday 
afternoon,  when  there  was  to  be,  next  day,  a  horse-race  at  the 
county-town,  one  of  the  competitors  in  which  was  one  of  his 
political  leaders,  he  admonished  his  boys  in  the  following 
fashion  : 

"  Boys,  I  suppose  you  know  that  there's  going  to  be  a  horse 
race  in  town  to-morrow.  Now,  boys,  don't  you  go  to  it. 

"  But,  boys,  if  you  do  go,  don't  you  bet.  Whatever  you  do, 
don't  you  bet. 

"  But,  boys,  if  you  do  bet,  mind  what  I  tell  you :  if  you  do 
bet,  be  sure  to  bet  on  Abercrombie's  mare !" 


CHAPTER    III. 

Home-work — Youthful  Trials — Kecollections  of  his  Father — A  Painful 
Lesson — "  Learning  Manners" — Exhibitions — Almost  a  Tragedy — Death 
of  Andrew  B.  Stephens — A  Great  Sorrow. 

FROM  his  sixth  to  his  fifteenth  year  Alexander  Stephens  spent 
far  more  time  at  toil  of  some  sort  than  in  either  study  or  play ; 
and  after  the  time  previously  referred  to,  he  was  not  at  school 
at  all  until  the  year  1820,  and  in  the  succeeding  years  only  when 
his  services  could  be  spared  from  the  house  or  the  field.  From 
the  letter  last  quoted  it  will  be  seen  that  his  schooling  in  all  this 
'  time  amounted  to  about  two  years,  and  that  his  work  was  about 
as  various  as  any  boy's  could  be.  But  from  his  earliest  youth, 
whatever  were  his  allotted  duties,  he  labored  at  them  with  a  per 
tinacity  and  effectiveness  that  might  have  won  praise  from  a 
strong  man,  at  a  time  when,  to  a  stranger,  the  idea  of  one  so  frail 
accomplishing  anything  in  the  way  of  work  must  have  seemed 
unreasonable. 

We  quote  again  from  "  Mr.  Finkle"  : 

"I  have  often  heard  Boss  say  that  he  did  not  go  to  school  from  that 
time  [in  1818,  to  Nathaniel  Day]  until  the  fall  or  late  summer  of  1820. 
He  went  for  about  three  months  in  that  year,  to  his  father,  who  then 
taught  school  on  the  Woodruff  Hill.  In  1821  he  went  again  for  a  short 
time  to  his  father,  at  the  same  Cross  Roads  of  which  Mr.  Akins  spoke. 
The  next  year,  1822,  he  went  for  about  three  months  more  to  his  father, 
who  then  taught  near  Powder  Creek  meeting-house,  and  at  a  spring  then 
known  as  the  Booker  Spring.  In  the  following  year  also  he  went  to  his 
father  for  about  the  same  time  and  at  the  same  place.  None  'of  these 
periods  was  exact  except  the  first  at  Mr.  Day's  school,  where  he  was  en 
tered  for  three  months  and  went  for  the  full  time. -His  father  kept  a  diary 
in  which  the  daily  attendance  of  each  scholar  was  entered,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  year  he  (Boss)  was  told  how  many  months  all  his  school-days 
amounted  to.  He  generally  went  in  the  fall  and  winter.  In  the  summer, 
and  at  all  times  when  he  was  at  home,  he  had  a  multitude  of  services  to 
perform,  such  as  taking  care  of  the  other  children  smaller  than  himself, 
there  being  no  nurse  in  his  father's  household,  picking  up  chips,  bringing 
30 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  IL  STEPHENS.  31 

water,  digging  in  the  garden,  hauling  manure,  keeping  the  calves  off  during 
morning  and  evening  milking,  driving  the  cattle  to  and  from  pasture,  etc., 
etc.  When  there  was  hauling  doing  on  the  place,  it  was  always  his  duty 
to  '  mind  gaps.'  " 

He  was  the  general  errand-goer  and  messenger.  For  all  the 
cloth  that  was  put  on  the  loom  he  had  to  hand  the  threads.  He 
was  a  skilful  corn-dropper  from  a  very  early  age,  and  after  he 
was  eight  years  old  he  dropped  nearly  all  the  corn  that  was 
planted  on  the  place.  At  ten  he  could  keep  up  dropping  as  fast 
as  any  ploughman  could  "  lay-off."  For  several  years  after  the 
death  of  his  father  he  frequently  dropped  ten  acres  of  corn  a 
day,  in  hills  spaced  four  feet  by  four.  At  about  eleven  years 
of  age  he  commenced  ploughing,  and  in  1824  he  was  one  of  the 
regular  ploughers  during  the  whole  crop.  He  was  also  the  mill- 
boy  and  shop-boy, — in  fact,  from  the  age  of  six  until  he  was  four 
teen,  when  the  family  broke  up,  no  one's  services  were  more  in 
demand  than  his.  All  the  infinitude  of  little  jobs  about  a  house 
and  plantation,  which,  in  later  days,  usually  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
younger  negroes,  were  assigned  to  him,  and  he  could  not  well 
be  spared  at  any  time.  For  this  reason  his  opportunities  of 
schooling  were  so  few. 

The  extent  of  his  learning  at  this  time  was  very  small.  He 
could  read  well,  and  could  spell  almost  every  word  in  Webster's 
Spelling-Book.  Indeed,  he  was  usually  head  of  the  spelling-class ; 
and  in  his  father's  school  particular  care  was  taken  with  the  spell 
ing.  "  He  says,"  reports  "  Mr.  Finkle,"  "  that  he  was  a  better 
speller  then  than  he  is  now.  He  could  wrrite,  and  had  ciphered 
as  far  as  the  Single  Rule  of  Three  in  the  old  Federal  Calculator" 

There  are  two  courses  open  to  the  heart  that  has  passed  through 
a  childhood  of  sickness  and  menial  toil.  One  is,  to  harden  itself 
against  suffering  and  sympathy ;  to  contemn,  if  not  to  despise, 
those  whom  it  afterward  watches  passing  through  the  same  or 
deal,  because  they  are  the  reminders  of  what  it  is  ashamed  and 
angry  to  be  reminded  of;  and  to  be  as  thankless  for  kindness 
and  friendship  as  it  is  reluctant  to  bestow  them.  The  other 
course  is,  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  blessings  annexed  to 
every  estate,  even  to  poverty  and  toil ;  and  that  one  of  the 
greatest  of  these  blessings  is  that  by  poverty  and  toil  we  learn 


32  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

what  suffering  is,  so  that  when  we  have  emerged  from  them,  we 
may  know  how  to  pity  and  how  to  relieve.  Perhaps  the  former 
course  is  the  more  natural.  It  requires  a  certain  amount — per 
haps  an  exceptional  amount — of  magnanimity  to  enable  a  man 
to  look  back  upon  a  time  when  he  endured  great  privation  with 
out  any  feeling  of  bitterness  or  shame  arising  in  his  heart.  But 
when  one  possesses  this  better  nature ;  when  he  can  remember 
that  he  has  borne  them  all  without  undue  complaint  or  repining, 
and  has  stood  patiently  in  his  lot  until  the  time  of  deliverance 
came,  and  then  brings  to  his  higher  and  happier  career  the  de 
sire  to  help  all  who  may  need  help, — such  a  man  may,  and  will, 
thank  God  for  the  sweet  uses  of  adversity. 
//Mr.  Stephens,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  acquire  much  learning 
in  his  youth  from  the  schools  of  books,  such  as  they  were ;  but 
in  the  school  of  experience  and  practical  knowledge,  in  the  duties 
of  the  kitchen,  the  garden,  and  the  field,  in  the  heat  and  cold, 
on  the  bed  of  sickness,  by  the  side  of  his  mother's  grave,  at  the 
pillow  of  his  dying  father,  in  his  second  orphanage,  and  in  the 
break ing-up  and  scattering  of  the  family, — in  these,  and  things 
like  these,  he  learned  wisdom  higher  than  any  found  in  books, 
and  by  it  he  grew  strong  in  endurance,  strong  in  purpose,  and 
strong  in  high  resolves  to  do  the  right,  resist  the  wrong,  and 
help,  wherever  he  might  find  them,  the  suffering  and  the  weal?\ 

And  so  now  he  loves  to  dwell  on  those  early  days,  knowing 
that  they  were  of  priceless  worth  to  him.  As  a  boy  it  may  have 
seemed  to  him  hard  that,  with  his  delicate  frame  and  eager  thirst 
for  learning,  he  was  denied  opportunities  of  study  which  were 
granted  to  so  many  to  whom  it  was  a  hateful  drudgery ;  but  he 
now  sees  that  the  experiences  and  trials  of  those  early  days  were 
the  best  sources  of  his  education.  He  can  now  think  of  all  the 
hardships  of  those  days  without  pain,  and  of  some  even  with 
gratitude ;  and  his  affections  still  cling  about  the  place  where 
they  were  endured,  which  is  still  his  home,  and  where  he  intends 
shall  be  his  grave. 

"  Mr.  Giles"  had  frequently  asked  "  Mr.  Finkle"  to  take  some 
opportunity  to  draw  his  patron  into  conversation  on  the  subject 
of  his  father;  but  this  was  not  done  until  near  the  end  of  the 
year  1863.  On  the  llth  of  November  of  that  year  he  received 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS.  33 

a  letter  touching  on  the  topic  in  question.  Part  of  it  recited  a 
dialogue  between  "  Boss"  and  one  of  his  nephews,  from  which 
we  make  some  extracts  : 


.  —  'Have  you  any  recollection  of  grandfather,  sir?  What 
sort  of  man  was  he  ?' 

"  MR.  S.  —  '  I  remember  him  very  distinctly.  He  was  of  about  the  middle 
height  and  size,  weighing,  when  in  good  health,  about  a  hundred  and  sixty 
pounds,  and  of  a  well-proportioned  figure.  His  hair  was  black,  but  be 
came  slightly  streaked  with  gray  before  he  died.  His  eyes  were  dark  gray, 
his  complexion  ruddy.  He  was  not  what  would  be  called  a  handsome  man, 
but  of  a  decided  comeliness  of  appearance.  His  carriage  and  manners 
were  dignified,  and  his  action  graceful.  lie  was  always  courteous  and 
agreeable,  but  not  much  given  to  mirth.  He  was  industrious,  systematic, 
and  frugal  ;  not  greedy  of  gain,  but  proud  of  his  independence.  He  looked 
upon  labor  as  honorable,  and  impressed  this  idea  upon  his  children. 

"  '  His  greatest  happiness  seemed  to  consist  in  agriculture  and  husbandry. 
He  was  fond  of  orchards,  gave  close  attention  to  fruit-trees,  and  procured 
all  the  varieties  he  could  find.  In  grafting  he  was  very  skilful  and  suc 
cessful,  and  some  of  the  trees  in  his  old  orchard,  grafted  by  his  hand,  are 
still  standing.  He  had  a  good,  sound,  strong,  native  intellect,  though  his 
education  had  been  limited,  and  he  had  not  had  much  schooling.  But  he 
was  a  good  English  scholar.  His  penmanship  was  remarkable  ;  indeed,  I 
have  never  met  with  a  handwriting  which  excelled  his.  He  was  also  a  good 
draughtsman.  He  was  fond  of  reading,  and  spent  much  of  his  leisure-time 
in  reading  or  writing.  He  did  most  of  the  writing  for  the  neighborhood, 
and  whoever  had  a  deed  or  contract  to  draw  up  usually  came  to  him. 

'"In  some  respects  he  was  peculiar,  considering  the  customs  of  his  day. 
He  abhorred  ardent  spirits,  never  tasted  it,  and  never  frequented  places 
where  it  was  drunk.  He  detested  indecent  jesting,  and  no  one  dared  to 
indulge  in  it  in  his  presence.  He  never  made  nor  received  visits  on  Sun 
day.  When  he  did  not  go  to  church  on  that  day  he  stayed  at  home,  and 
made  his  children  stay  at  home  and  read  the  Bible.  If  any  of  his  neigh 
bors  called  to  see  him  on  Sunday,  he  had  a  way  of  his  own  for  disposing 
of  them.  He  would  soon  give  the  conversation  such  a  turn  as  would  make 
a  reference  to  books  opportune,  by  way  of  illustration  or  confirmation  of 
his  views.  He  would  then  take  down  a  volume  of  sermons,  and  read  from 
them  some  passages  bearing  on  the  point.  This  usually  resulted  in  the 
departure  of  the  unseasonable  visitor.  It  was  a  common  remark  of  his 
that  the  best  way  to  treat  idle  visitors,  whose  visits  were  without  object  or 
profit,  was  to  take  a  book  and  read  something  to  them.  If  they  became 
interested,  then  the  visit  was  no  longer  wearisome,  but  mutually  profitable 
and  pleasant:  and  if  not,  then  becoming  the  bored,  and  not  the  borers, 
they  would  take  themselves  off. 

"  '  Though  not  a  member  of  any  church,  he  was  exceedingly  exemplary, 


34  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 

moral,  and  upright  in  his  life,  had  a  high  regard  for  truth,  justice,  and 
honor,  and  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  His  family 
belonged  to  that  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  known  as  the  Seceders. 

"  '  He  commenced  life  as  a  school-teacher  when  he  was  a  little  more  than 
fourteen  years  old,  and  taught  several  years  before  he  was  married,  but 
never,  as  I  have  often  heard  him  say,  liked  that  occupation.  He  taught, 
as  I  remember,  more  in  compliance  with  the  urgent  entreaties  of  his 
neighbors  than  in  obedience  to  his  own  inclination.  He  loved  his  home 
and  to  be  at  work;  here  he  ploughed,  hoed,  reaped,  superintended  the 
building  of  all  his  houses,  laying  with  his  own  hands  the  chimneys  of 
stone  or  brick.  He  tanned  his  own  leather,  made  his  own  lasts,  and  all 
the  shoes  for  the  family.  He  bought  little  or  nothing,  and  came  as  near 
living  within  himself  as  any  man  I  ever  knew. 

44 1  He  had  a  natural  genius  for  almost  any  kind  of  handicraft.  The 
trowel  he  used  as  well  as  the  best  of  masons  ;  the  saw,  the  chisel,  the  adze, 
and  the  plane  as  dexterously  as  the  most  expert  carpenter.  His  leather 
was  as  good  as  any  I  ever  saw ;  and  his  shoes  and  boots  were  equal  to  any 
made  at  this  day  by  our  best  workmen.  Whatever  he  turned  his  hand  to 
he  did.  and  did  well.  This  was  a  maxim  with  him.  which  he  used  to 
enforce  by  quoting  the  lines  from  Pope : 

"Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise: 
Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies." 

Pope,  by  the  wray,  was  one  of  his  favorite  authors.  The  Essay  on  Man 
he  used  to  make  his  higher  classes  read  in  school.'  " 

When  Mr.  Stephens  had  at  last  been  induced  to  speak  of  his 
father,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  subject.  On  the  17th  of 
the  same  month,  November,  "  Mr.  Giles"  received  another  and 
much  longer  letter  from  "  Mr.  Finkle."  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
extracts  given  how  fondly  he  was  then  dwelling  upon  the  mem 
ories  of  his  father,  and  how  deep  the  feelings  those  memories 
awakened  in  his  heart.  About  this  time  public  affairs  were  in 
a  condition  which  caused  him  great  depression,  and  the  greater 
from  the  fact  that  he  felt  that  his  counsels  were  of  no  avail  in 
arresting  the  progress  of  events,  or  the  line  of  policy  pursued 
by  the  administration  at  Richmond.  Next  to  a  never-failing 
trust  in  Providence  to  make  all  things,  even  those  that  looked 
most  calamitous,  contribute  to  the  best  ends,  he  found  his  chief 
consolation  in  reverting  to  the  happier  years  of  his  own  life  and 
the  life  of  the  country.  He  almost  seemed  to  wish  that  he 
could  so  live  in  the  memory  of  those  times  as  to  delude  him 
self  into  the  fancy  that  they  had  never  departed  or  had  returned. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS.  35 

"DEAR  JEEMS, — Ever  since  the  conversation  Boss  had  with  his  nephew 
about  his  father,  he  seems  to  be  more  taken  up  with  that  subject  thai;  with 
anything  else.  It  seems  to  have  opened  to  him  a  new  vein  of  thought, 
and  he  has  talked  a  great  deal  about  it  to  me  when  we  were  together  alone. 
Some  things  that  he  said  I  shall  try  to  relate  as  accurately  as  I  can. 

"  The  other  day,  as  we  were  walking  together  in  the  field  where  the  old 
house  used  to  stand,  '  Peter,'  said  he,  '  my  father  was  a  wise  man.  The  more 
I  think  of  him  the  more  deeply  I  am  impressed  with  the  fact,  not  only  in 
reference  to  his  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of  men,  but  in  all  the  rela 
tions  and  business  of  life.  And  this  brings  the  whole  subject  we  were • 
talking  of  the  other  day  back  to  my  mind.  One  of  his  traits,  Peter,  was 
rarely  to  lose  his  temper.  He  very  seldom  suffered  himself  to  get  angry, 
and  when  he  did,  he  suppressed  all  outward  show  of  it.  He  never  quar 
relled  with  his  neighbors,  nor  scolded  his  servants,  children,  or  scholars. 
He  took  great  care  to  give  no  cause  of  offence  to  others. 

"  '  A  common  remark  of  his  own  was,  "  Haste  makes  waste."  His  rule 
was  to  keep  constantly  going,  moderately  but  regularly,  and  never  to  lose 
any  time.  lie  never  allowed  his  oxen  or  horses  to  be  pushed  ;  rarely 
himself  rode  faster  than  a  walk,  and  he  would  have  punished  a  child  or 
servant  for  trotting  a  horse  from  the  plough,  or  galloping  to  or  from  the 
mill,  even  without  a  load.  His  rules  were  rigid,  and  his  discipline  strict. 
Punishment  invariably  followed  their  infraction,  through  ^negligence  or 
inattention, — punishment  sure,  but  never  severe. 

"  'There  was  nothing  about  the  farm  that  more  provoked  him  than  bad 
ploughing,  whether  in  breaking  up  the  land  or  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
crop.  He  took  great  pains  with  his  ploughs,  seeing  that  they  were  prop 
erly  proportioned,  and  that  the  share  and  coulter  were  rightly  pitched  to 
run  easily,  both  for  horse  and  man.  He  made  his  plough-stocks  himself, 
and  saw  that  every  part  was  rightly  adjusted.  He  allowed  no  loitering  or 
stopping  after  a  start  was  made  for  the  field.  Two  hours  were  allowed 
for  rest  and  feeding  at  noon  in  the  summer,  less  in  the  other  seasons. 

"  '  My  duty,  from  childhood,  was  to  attend  to  the  sheep.  I  had  to  see 
that  they  were  up  every  night,  summer  and  winter.  I  shall  never  forget  a 
punishment  that  I  got  about  the  sheep  soon  after  the  duty  was  assigned  me. 
One  evening,  after  a  snowy  day,  I  went  to  call  them  up,  fold  them  and 
feed  them  as  usual.  I  found  them  all  but  one.  It  was  almost  dark,  and 
the  snow  was  several  inches  deep  on  the  ground.  I  called  for  some  time, 
but  the  sheep  did  not  come,  and  I  returned,  and  did  not  report  that  one 
was  missing.  The  next  evening  the  sheep  was  still  missing,  and  still  I 
made  no  report.  The  following  morning  my  father  went  with  me  himself 
to  look  at  the  sheep,  as  was  his  custom  from  time  to  time  to  go  around 
and  see  how  every  one  was  attending  to  his  duty.  He  missed  the  sheep, 
which  was  a  ewe,  and  immediately  asked  how  long  she  had  been  mi.ssing. 
I  told  him.  "  Why  had  I  said  nothing  of  it  before?"  he  sternly  asked.  I 
could  say  nothing,  for  the  true  reason  of  my  silence  was  the  fear  that  I 


36  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

should  be  sent  out  to  look  for  the  lost  ewe  in  the  dark  and  snow  ;  and  as 
I  did  not  tell  of  it  the  first  night,  I  held  my  peace  the  next  day.  I  had 
no  idea  that  anything  serious  had  happened  to  the  ewe,  but  supposed  she 
would  come  up  in  a  day  or  two,  and  that  no  one  but  myself  would  know 
that  she  had  ever  been  missing. 

"  '  The  affair,  however,  turned  out  very  differently  from  my  expectations. 
I  got  a  sound  chastisement  for  my  carelessness  and  disobedience ;  but  the 
evident  anger  of  my  father  at  my  misconduct  caused  me  much  severer  pain 
than  did  the  stripes  he  inflicted.  He  and  I  set  out  to  search  for  the  ewe ; 
and  at  last  we  found  her  dead,  with  a  lamb  she  had  borne  lying  dead 
beside  her.  The  whole  affair  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  on  my 
mind,  and  I  do  not  think  I  was  ever  again  guilty  of  a  similar  piece  of 
negligence.  It  was  not  from  the  fear  of  the  punishment :  indeed,  looking 
back,  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever  had  a  whipping  in  my  life  that  did 
me  any  good ;  and  I  certainly  was  never  deterred  from  doing  anything 
by  the  fear  of  one.  Perhaps  I  never  deserved  one  more  than  I  did  this ; 
and  I  did  not  feel  that  I  had  been  wronged  by  it,  which  is  more  than  I 
can  say  of  many  that  I  did  get.  But  such  was  my  reverence  and  love  for 
my  father,  and  such  my  trust  in  his  justice  and  goodness,  that  I  did  not 
think  he  would  act  in  any  matter  of  this  sort  from  any  motive  but  the 
sense  of  duty.  But  I  thought  then,  and  still  think,  that  if  he  had  not 
whipped  me,  but  had  explained  the  reason  of  his  injunction  to  me  to 
report  any  missing  sheep  at  the  time,  and  had  gone  with  me  as  he  did. 
and  we  had  found  the  sheep  dead  in  consequence  of  my  neglect,  this 
would  have  had  all  the  effect  upon  me  that  the  punishment  was  intended 
to  produce.  For  it  was  a  matter  of  deep  and  painful  thought  to  me  for  a 
long  time  afterwards,  that  old  "Mottle-face,"  as  we  used  to  call  the  ewe, 
had  suffered  and  died  through  my  neglect.  No  darkness,  cold,  or  snow 
could  have  kept  me  from  hunting  her  up  if  I  had  thought  of  her  being 
in  such  a  condition. 

"  '  My  father's  habits  as  a  teacher,  and  his  manner  of  teaching,  I  well 
recollect.  He  never  scolded  ;  never  reprimanded  a  scholar  in  a  loud 
voice ;  never  thumped  the  head,  pulled  the  ears,  or  used  a  ferula,  as  I 
have  often  seen  other  teachers  do.  He  took  great  pleasure  in  the  act  of 
teaching,  and  was  unwearied  in  explaining  everything  to  his  scholars,  the 
youngest  as  well  as  the  oldest.  He  had  no  classes,  except  in  spelling  and 
reading,  in  which  exercises  he  insisted  on  a  clear,  full  enunciation.  He 
was  himself  one  of  the  best  readers  I  have  ever  heard,  and  he  was  very 
particular  in  making  his  scholars  attend  to  the  pauses,  and  deliver  the 
passages  with  the  proper  emphasis  and  intonation  ;  and  to  instruct  them 
in  this  he  would  take  the  book  and  show  the  school  how  it  ought  to  be 
read.  In  this  way  even  the  dullest  scholar  understood  what  was  required 
of  him,  and  what  good  reading  was.  His  "cipherers,''  as  those  used  to  be 
called  who  studied  arithmetic,  and  such  as  were  in  higher  branches,  such 
as  surveying,  etc.,  were  allowed  to  study  outside  the  school-house. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  37 

u  l  His  scholars  generally  were  much  attached  to  him.  He  was  on  easy 
and  familiar  terms  with  them  without  losing  their  respect;  and  the  small 
est  boys  would  approach  him  with  confidence,  but  never  with  familiarity. 
He  had  one  custom  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  in  any  other  school.  About 
once  a  month,  on  a  Friday  evening,  after  the  spelling  classes  had  got 
through  their  tasks,  he  had  an  exercise  on  ceremony,  which  the  scholars 
called  ''learning  manners/'  though  what  he  called  it — if  I  ever  heard  him 
call  it  anything — I  cannot  remember.  The  exercise  consisted  in  going 
through  the  usual  form  of  salutation  on  meeting  an  acquaintance,  and 
introducing  persons  to  each  other,  with  other  variations  occasionally  in 
troduced.  These  forms  were  taught  during  the  Aveek,  and  the  pupils' 
proficiency  was  tested  on  the  occasions  I  am  speaking  of.  At  the  appointed 
hour  on  the  Friday  evening,  at  a  given  signal,  books  were  laid  aside  and 
a  recess  of  a  few  minutes  given.  Then  all  would  reassemble  and  take 
seats  in  rows  on  opposite  benches,  the  boys  on  one  side  and  the  girls — for 
he  taught  both  sexes — on  the  other.  The  boy  at  the  head  of  the  row 
would  rise  and  walk  toward  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  the  girl  at  the 
head  of  her  row  would  rise  and  proceed  toward  the  same  spot.  As  they 
approached,  the  boy  would  bow  and  the  girl  drop  a  curtsey, — the  estab 
lished  female  salutation  of  those  days, — and  they  would  then  pass  on.  At 
other  times  they  were  taught  to  stop  and  exchange  verbal  salutations, 
and  the  usual  formulas  of  polite  inquiry,  after  which  they  retired,  and 
were  followed  by  the  next  pair.  His  leading  object  was  to  teach  ease  and 
becoming  confidence  of  manner,  and  gracefulness  of  movement  and  ges 
ture.  He  was  very  particular  about  a  bow ;  and  when  a  boy  was  awkward 
in  it,  he  would  go  through  the  motion  himself,  and  show  how  it  ought 
to  be  done.  These  exercises  were  varied  by  meetings  in  an  imaginary 
parlor, — the  entrance,  introduction,  and  reception  of  visitors,  with  practice 
in  "commonplace  chat,"  to  use  his  own  phrase,  suited  to  the  supposed 
occasion.  Then  came  the  ceremony  of  introductions.  The  parties  in  this 
case  would  walk  from  opposite  sides  of  the  room  fh  pairs,  and  upon 
meeting,  after  the  salutations  of  the  two  agreed  upon,  would  commence 
making  known  to  each  other  the  friends  accompanying  them  :  the  boy 
saying,  "Allow  me,  Miss  Mary,  to  present  to  you  my  friend  Mr.  Smith. 
Mr,  Smith,  Miss  Jones."  Whereupon,  after  Miss  Mary  had  spoken  to 
Mr.  Smith,  she  would  in  turn  introduce  her  friends. 

"  '  These  exercises,  trivial  as  the  description  may  seem,  were  of  great  use 
to  raw  country  boys  and  girls,  removing  their  awkwardness  and  conse 
quent  shyness,  and  the  painful  sense  of  being  at  a  disadvantage,  or  the 
dread  of  appearing  ridiculous  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  many  or  all  of  them, 
in  after-life,  had  frequent  occasion  to  be  grateful  for  my  father's  lessons  in 
"manners."  They  were  delighted  in  by  the  scholars,  especially  the  large 
boys  and  girls,  and  in  the  old-field  schools  some  of  these  were  nearly  or 
quite  grown.  Frequently,  when  the  weather  was  fine,  parents  and  neigh 
bors  would  come  to  the  school-house  on  these  Friday  evenings  to  witness 


38  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   U.   STEPHENS. 

the  ceremonies.  When  such  visits  were  expected,  the  girls  would  dress  a 
little  smarter  than  usual,  and  the  boys  would  fix  themselves  up  at  the 
spring,  washing,  combing,  and  giving  an  ornamental  adjustment,  popularly 
called  a  "  roach,"  to  their  hair  ;  and  the  conversation,  of  surpassing  polite 
ness  and  elegance,  was  extremely  amusing. 

"  '  My  father  was  very  fond  of  dramatic  exercises  in  school,  and  while, 
as  I  said  before,  he  was  never  much  given  to  mirth,  meaning  by  that  ex 
cessive  laughter  or  joke-telling,  yet  he  was  very  fond  of  the  humorous  in 
dramatic  form.  He  seldom  had  public  examinations,  but  almost  always 
had  what  he  called  an  "  exhibition5'  some  time  during  the  year.  At  these 
exhibitions  speeches  were  delivered  by  the  boys,  pieces  of  poetry  or  prose 
recited',  and  dialogues  or  dramatic  scenes  acted.  The  speeches  of  the 
small  boys  he  wrote  himself.  They  were  short,  and  usually  took  a  humor 
ous  turn.  The  larger  boys  recited  pieces  of  his  selection,  among  which 
there  was  sure  to  be  Pope's  "  Universal  Prayer,"  which  was  a  great  favor 
ite  with  him.  My  brother  Aaron  had  this  assigned  to  him  on  one  occasion, 
when  a  short  piece  of  poetry  called  "  The  Cuckoo" — I  forget  the  author 
— fell  to  my  lot.  I  also  recited  a  piece  on  Charity,  by  Blair,  and  took 
parts  in  several  plays. 

"  'These  exhibitions  were  numerously  attended, — surprisingly  so,  under 
the  circumstances.  At  one  I  think  there  were  at  least  three  thousand  per 
sons,  and  the  crowd  was  like  that  of  a  camp-meeting,  the  spectators  hav 
ing  assembled  from  a  circuit  of  many  miles:  indeed,  the  exhibition  was  a 
great  gala-day,  not  only  for  the  school,  but  for  all  the  surrounding  coun 
try.  A  stage  was  constructed  at  the  end  of  the  school-house,  and  dressing- 
rooms,  as  I  may  call  them,  partitioned  off  by  curtains.  The  green-room 
was  in  the  school-room,  and  was  entered  through  a  window  behind  the 
curtain.  The  scenes  for  action  were  selected  with  a  good  deal  of  taste. 
None  were  chosen  from  tragedy  proper,  or  from  farce,  but  chosen  with  an 
eye  to  improve  manners  and  morals.  Some  of  the  dialogues  of  this  kind 
he  wrote  himself.  He  devoted  great  care  to  the  rehearsals,  showing  each 
performer  how  his  part  should  be  recited  and  acted.  His  versatility  of 
talent  in  this  line  was  surprising,  and  the  scholars  used  to  enjoy  the 
rehearsals  quite  as  heartily  as  the  spectators  did  the  performance.  In  this 
as  in  everything  else,  he  carried  out  his  principle  that  whatever  was  to  be 
done  ought  to  be  well  done.  Half-way  modes  of  doing  things,  make-shifts 
and  failures,  were  an  abomination  in  his  sight. 

"  '  His  scholars  had  a  strong  attachment  for  him,  and  those  who  had  once 
been  his  pupils  seemed  to  feel  as  deep  regard  and  respect  for  him  as  for 
their  own  parents.  This  feeling,  I  have  found,  adhered  to  them  through 
life.  Whenever  in  my  travels  I  have  fallen  in  with  any  of  my  father's 
old  scholars,  their  hearts  seemed  to  warm  into  a  glow  towards  me.  He 
talked  to  them,  counselled  them,  instilled  into  them  principles  of  sobriety, 
morality,  industry,  energy,  and  honor.  Cheating,  lying,  and  everything 
mean  or  dishonest  he  held  up  to  scorn  and  abhorrence.  He  was,  so  far  as 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  39 

I  know,  the  only  old-field  teacher  of  those  days  on  whom  the  boys  never 
played  the  prank  of  "  turning  out."  They  had  probably  too  much  respect 
and  regard  for  him. 

"  '  In  early  life  he  was  very  healthy  and  robust,  and  unusually  strong  for 
one  of  his  size,  as  I  have  often  heard  him  say.  lie  never  met  one  of  his 
own  weight  whom- he  could  not  out-jump.  Wrestling  had  been  a  favorite 
amusement  with  him  in  his  youth  -,  but  in  after-life  he  never  allowed  his 
children,  scholars,  or  servants  to  engage  in  it.  His  reason  for  this  prohi 
bition  grew  out  of  an  incident  of  his  life  which  he  sometimes  related  with 
much  feeling.  When  he  first  grew  up,  Sherod  Young,  a  friend  of  his  of 
about  the  same  age,  and  his  equal  in  strength,  to  whom  he  was  much 
attached,  and  with  whom  he  had  had  many  a  wrestling-bout  without  any 
very  decided  advantage  on  either  side,  proposed  to  him  that  they  should  go 
out  alone,  and  by  one  final  trial  determine  which  was  the  better  of  the 
two.  For  a  long  time  neither  had  much  the  advantage,  until  at  last 
Young  by  some  movement  lost  his  footing,  and  my  father  threw  him  a 
heavy  fall,  and  fell  himself  upon  him.  For  some  time  he  lay  insensible, 
and  apparently  dead.  No  one  was  present  to  help.  My  father  used 
every  effort  to  revive  him,  but  in  vain,  until  finally  he  gave  up  in 
despair,  believing  him  dead.  Life,  however,  at  last  returned ;  but  it  was 
long  before  he  entirely  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  fall.  From  that 
day  my  father  never  again  wrestled  with  any  one,  nor  would  he  allow  it 
to  take  place  wherever  he  could  prevent  it. 

"  'But  in  later  years,  and  as  far  back  as  my  earliest  recollection  of  him, 
he  suffered  from  some  affection  of  the  spine,  and  could  not  lift  anything 
of  much  weight,  nor  stoop  without  pain.  He  suffered  also  much  from 
ear-ache,  of  a  rheumatic  or  neuralgic  character,  and  I  have  known  him 
tormented  for  many  sleepless  nights  in  succession  with  this  painful  mal 
ady.  He  often  expressed  the  opinion  that  he  would  not  live  to  old  age. 
In  speaking  of  death  he  used  to  express  a  strong  desire  to  retain  his  con 
sciousness  to  the  last.  "  I  should  like  to  meet  him"  [Death],  he  would  say, 
"  in  my  right  mind."  This,  however,  was  not  the  case  with  him.  He  died 
of  pneumonia,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  influenza.  He  was  confined  to 
his  bed  nine  or  ten  days,  but  was  not  thought  to  be  dangerously  ill  until 
the  day  before  he  died.  About  twenty-four  hours  before  he  died  he  became 
delirious,  then  fell  into,a  stupor,  after  which  he  recognized  nothing.  The 
evening  on  which  he  was  first  taken,  he  told  all  the  family  that  he  thought 
he  should  die,  though  he  was  not  suffering  much  pain.  He  had  all  the 
children  and  servants  called  into  his  bedroom,  where  my  step-mother  was 
lying  ill  herself,  and  told  them  what  he  thought  would  be  the  issue  of  the 
disease.  Several  days  passed,  and  no  bad  symptom  had  made  its  appear 
ance.  The  Thursday  before  he  died — which  happened  on  Sunday — he 
sent  for  my  first  teacher,  Nathaniel  Day,  to  draw  up  his  will.  This  was 
done,  and  he  seemed  cheerful  enough.  On  that  night,  or  the  next,  I  now 
forget  which,  I  was  in  the  room  alone  with  him  for  a  while,  and  he  told 


40  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

me  he  was  going  to  die,  and  gave  me  a  long  talk  and  much  advice,  speak 
ing  with  a.  great  deal  of  feeling.  I  then  had  no  idea  that  he  was  really 
going  to  die.  I  was  deeply  impressed  by  what  he  said,  but  the  fact  or 
even  the  probability  of  his  dying  I  could  not  realize.  When  I  saw  him 
breathe  his  last  it  came  near  killing  me.  It  seemed  as  if  I  could  not  live. 
Never  was  human  anguish  greater  than  that  which  I  felt  upon  the  death 
of  my  father.  He  was  the  object  of  my  love,  my  admiration,  my  rev 
erence.  It  seemed  to  me  impossible  that  I  could  live  without  him  ;  and 
the  whole  world  for  me  was  filled  with  the  blackness  of  despair.  His 
whole  life,  from  the  time  of  my  earliest  recollection,  was  engraven  upon 
my  memory  ;  his  actions,  his  conversations;  his  admonitions,  his  counsels, 
were  before  ine  by  day  and  by  night  for  many  a  month  afterwards. 
Whenever  I  was  about  to  do  something  that  I  had  never  done  before,  the 
first  thought  that  occurred  to  me  was,  What  would  my  father  think  of 
this?  Sometimes  I  indulged  the  fancy  that  perhaps  his  spirit  was  watch 
ing  over  me,  and  that  he  saw  what  I  was  doing  and  even  knew  my  thoughts ; 
and  this  fancy  was  soothing  and  pleasing  to  me.  I  sometimes  dreamed 
of  him,  and  always  awoke  from  such  dreams  weeping,  for  in  them  I  could 
never  have  such  intercourse  with  him  as  I  longed  for.  There  was  nothing 
in  them  life-like,  nothing  real ;  all  was  shadowy,  and  he  was  dead  !  The 
inanis  imago  was  all  that  I  could  see. 

"  'But  the  principles  and  precepts  he  taught  me  have  been  my  guiding- 
star  through  life.  Nothing  could  have  induced  me  to  do  anything  which 
I  thought  he  would  have  disapproved  if  he  had  been  alive.  My  strongest 
desire  was  to  do  in  all  things  what  I  thought  would  have  pleased  him.  Even 
now  the  thought  often  occurs  to  me :  I  wonder  Avhat  my  father  thinks  of 
this?  But  the  thought  brings  sad  memories  to  life  and  awakens  anew  the 
old  sorrow  !;  " 

From  this  letter  it  can  be  seen  how  his  heart  was  wrung  at 
that  first  great  darkening  of  his  young  life,  and  how  deep  was 
that  affection  for  a  father,  which,  after  a  lapse  of  fifty  eventful 
years,  can  still  cause  the  tears  of  sad  remembrance  to  flow  from 
the  eyes  of  the  man  who  has  endured  so  many  other  sorrows 
and  borne  so  many  burdens  of  other  cares.  In  the  journal,  to 
which  allusion  has  before  been  made,  he  thus  speaks  of  himself, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  father's  death : 

"  I  was  young,  without  experience,  knew  nothing  of  men  or  their  deal 
ings,  and  when  I  stood  by  his  bedside  and  saw  him  breathe  his  last,  and 
with  that  last  breath  my  last  hope  expired,  such  a  flood  of  grief  rushed 
into  my  heart  as  almost  burst  it.  No  language  can  tell  the  deep  anguish 
that  filled  a  heart  so  young ;  the  earth,  grass,  trees,  sky,  everything  looked 
dreary ;  life  seemed  not  worth  living,  and  I  longed  to  take  my  peaceful 
sleep  by  my  father's  side." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Death  of  Mrs.  Stephens,  and  Dispersion  of  the  Family — Sunday-School — 
Rapid  Progress — Removal  to  his  Uncle's — O'Cavanaugh — Becomes  a 
Hero  in  a  Small  Way — Leaves  School — A  Turning-point  in  his  Life — 
Mr.  Mills — A  Generous  Offer — Goes  to  the  Academy  at  Washington, 
Georgia — An  Imperfect  Understanding— Mr.  A.  H.  Webster — Adopts 
the  Name  of  Hamilton — Mr.  A.  L.  Alexander. 

ONE  week  after  the  death  of  the  father,  the  same  disease 
carried  off  the  mother.  The  little  family  had  then  to  be  scat 
tered.  The  surviving  children  of  the  first  marriage,  Aaron  and 
Alexander,  were  taken  to  the  house  of  their  uncle,  the  late  Gen 
eral,  then  Colonel,  Aaron  W.  Grier,  of  Warren  County,  who 
became  their  guardian.  The  surviving  children  of  the  second 
marriage,  John  L.,  Catherine  B.,  and  Linton,  found  homes  with 
their  mother's  relations. 

At  this  point  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  biographer  to  revert 
to  an  earlier  period  of  Alexander  Stephens's  life,  and  state  a  cir 
cumstance  which  had  an  important  influence  upon  his  fortunes. 
It  has  been  mentioned  that  his  last  schooling  was  in  1823.  In 
1824,  however,  and  while  he  was  one  of  the  regular  working 
hands  on  the  farm,  he  became  a  member  of  a  Sunday-school 
class  at  the  Powder  Creek  meeting-house.  And  here  we  must 
again  call  to  our  aid  the  correspondence  of  Messrs.  Giles  and 
Finkle.  In  May,  1863,  the  former  propounded  certain  ques 
tions  to  the  latter  touching  this  part  of  his  patron's  life,  to  which 
a  reply  was  soon  received.  After  some  rather  extended  prelim 
inary  remarks,  the  point  of  inquiry  is  led  up  to  by  the  follow 
ing  reflections  : 

u  In  thinking  of  the  events  of  my  past  life,  I  am  often  impressed  with 
one  fact,  and  that  is  the  perfect  unconsciousness,  at  the  time,  of  the  im 
portant  bearing  upon  after-life  that  little  incidents  have,  which,  at  the 
time  of  their  occurrence,  were  almost  unnoticed.  In  the  lives  of  all  persons 
there  are  turning-points,  changes  of  studies,  business,  pursuits,  habits, 

41 


42  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

ideas, — indeed,  changes  of  all  kinds.  These  changes  or  turning-points,  as 
I  call  them,  form  epochs  in  every  one's  life.  To  illustrate:  One  of  the 
first  epochs  in  my  life  that  I  remember  was  my  dropping  the  '  slips/  as  we 
called  them  then, — a  sort  of  frock  such  as  girls  wear, — and  putting  on 
breeches.  This  was  a  momentous  event  with  me.  changing  my  ideas, 
giving  me  entirely  new  notions  of  myself,  hitherto  undreamed  of.  Starting 
to  school  was  another  great  epoch  with  me.  New  fields  of  perception  and 
reflection  were  opened  before  me,  and  new  scenes  presented.  It  was  in 
truth  my  first  entrance — first  step  upon  the  stage  of  life.  But  I  no  more 
thought  of  this  the  morning  my  father  gave  me  the  beautiful  new  spelling- 
book,  with  its  rich  blue  cover,  and  told  me  to  go  to  school  and  be  a  good 
boy,  than  I  thought,  several  years  afterwards,  that  I  was  turning  another 
point  in  my  life  when,  one  Sunday  morning,  he  started  me  with  a  Bible 
to  Sunday-school  at  Powder  Creek  meeting-house.  These  things,  when 
they  occurred,  seemed  just  like  any  other  ordinary  daily  events;  yet,  in 
looking  back  upon  them,  I  see  that  they  and  many  similar  ones  which  I 
have  in  my  mind  were  far  otherwise. 

u  That  start  to  the  Sunday-school  was  an  epoch  in  my  life.  It  was  then 
that  I  first  took  a  taste  for  reading.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1824  :  I  was 
a,  little  over  twelve  years  of  age.  All  my  reading  had  been  limited  to  the 
spelling-book  and  New  Testament.  At  this  Sunday-school  we  had  the 
Sunday-school  Union  question-book,  which  was  a  new  thing  in  the  country 
at  that  time.  The  school  was  organized  by  Garland  "Wingfield,  a  class- 
leader  in  the  Methodist  Society  at  Powder  Creek.  He  was  the  superin 
tendent.  There  were  perhaps  thirty  scholars,  divided  into  four  or  five 
classes.  I  was  put  into  a  class  beginning  with  Genesis,  a  part  of  the 
Bible  that  I  had  never  read  before,  and  I  soon  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  narrative.  It  was  no  task  for  me  to  get  the  lesson,  though  I  had 
no  other  time  to  do  it  but  on  Sunday  mornings  and  evenings,  or  at  night, 
by  the  light  of  a  pine-knot  fire. 

"  When  I  reached  the  history  of  Joseph,  I  did  not  stop  with  the  lesson, 
but  went  on  for  chapter  after  chapter.  I  was  permitted  to  recite  all  I  had 
learned,  arid  this  carried  me  out  of  my  class.  I  soon  went  through  Exo 
dus  and  the  other  Mosaic  books,  often  sitting  up  till  midnight,  reading  with 
intensest  interest  by  the  light  of  the  blazing  pine-knots,  the  only  light  in 
our  house  for  readers  in  those  days.  My  step-mother  had  a  candle  in  her 
room,  by  which  she  sewed,  patched,  darned,  and  performed  other  similar 
domestic  tasks.  But  by  the  fire  I  read  often  long  after  the  whole  house 
hold  were  asleep,  and  that  after  a  hard  day's  work.  I  never  missed  a 
question  ;  and  my  rapid  progress  was  surprising  to  the  teachers  and  the 
whole  school.  I  improved  also  in  my  reading,  of  which  at  first  I  made  but 
a  halting,  stammering,  spelling-out  business.  I  soon  went  through  the 
Old  Testament, — in  fact,  long  before  the  class  with  which  I  had  started  got 
through  Genesis.  In  the  early  fall  I  was  taken  sick  with  chills,  and  had 
to  stay  from  school,  and  in  the  winter  the  school  closed. 


LIFE   OF   ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  43 

"My  entrance  into  this  school  had  a  considerable  effect  upon  my  for 
tunes.  It  gave  me  a  taste  for  reading,  for  history,  for  chronology.  In  a 
religious  point  of  view,  I  do  not  know  that  any  decided  impression  wa8 
made  upon  my  mind.  Perhaps  my  moral  principles  were  confirmed, — 
nothing  more.  But  it  gave  me  reputation.  My  rapid  progress  was  noted 
and  much  talked  about;  but  I  assure  you  this  talk  did  not  elevate  me  in 
my  own  estimation  at  all.  I  believe,  however,  it  may  have  given  me 
some  confidence  in  myself.  Before  this  I  was  very  timid  and  self-dis 
trustful,  bashful,  and  afraid  to  say  what  I  knew,  lest  I  should  make  some 
mistake. 

"  After  the  death  of  my  father,  which  was  by  for  the  most  important 
epoch  in  my  life  to  the  present  day,  for  upon  it  turned  the  whole  current 
of  niy  existence,  I  went  to  live  with  my  uncle,  Aaron  "W.  Grier,  near  Ray- 
•town.  My  father  died  on  the  7th  of  May,  1826,  and  my  step-mother  on 
the  14th,  after  which  the  family  was  separated.  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  Williams  by  name,  a  missionary  under  the 
Georgia  Board,  came  to  Ray  town  to  preach,  and,  among  other  things,  pro 
posed  to  establish  a  Sunday-school  for  the  children  of  the  neighborhood 
upon  the  Union  plan.  My  aunt,  my  uncle  Grier's  sister,  who  lived  with 
him  (he  was  then  unmarried),  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
She  was  a  woman  of  unusually  strong  mind,  and  was  what  in  those  days 
might  have  been  called  well  read.  She  had  a  good  library,  and  had  made 
good  use  of  it.  My  grandfather  Grier  had  several  hundred  volumes,  the 
largest  library  in  all  that  part  of  the  country,  and,  according  to  my  recol 
lection,  it  contained  many  very  rare  and  choice  works.  These  books  were  left 
to  my  uncle  Aaron  and  his  sister.  My  aunt  was,  as  I  said,  a  Presbyterian, 
and  Mr.  Williams,  of  course,  called  to  see  her,  and  I  became  acquainted 
with  him.  He  spoke  of  his  plans  about  the  Sunday-school.  I  was  famil 
iar  with  everything  connected  with  that  subject,  and  was  delighted  with 
the  idea  of  seeing  one  started  in  the  neighborhood.  It  was  to  be  at  South 
Liberty  meeting-house,  near  Raytown.  This  meeting-house  belonged  to 
no  denomination,  but  was  built  by  the  people  for  the  use  of  all  Christian 
sects,  without  distinction.  I  took  Mr.  Williams  round  to  see  the  neigh 
bors  about  sending  their  children  to  school,  and  our  acquaintance,  thus 
formed,  afterwards  grew  into  an  intimacy,  or  at  least  a  relation  approach 
ing  as  nearly  to  an  intimacy  as  could  be  expected  between  a  man  of  his 
age  and  a  boy  under  fifteen.  The  school  was  started,  with  Mr.  Charles  C. 
Mills,  a  Presbyterian  elder,  as  superintendent.  I  entered  as  a  scholar,  but 
was  soon  made  a  teacher.  My  proficiency  in  Bible  studies,  as  well  as  my 
general  deportment,  impressed  both  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Mills  favorably, 
from  which  circumstance  results  followed  which  gave  another  turn  to  the 
current  of  my  life." 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  this  acquaint 
ance  with  Mr.  Mills  had  an  influence  upon  the  career  of  Mr. 


44  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Stephens,  which  we  postpone,  as  it  would  anticipate  the  account 
of  his  school-life  while  living  with  his  uncle  Grier. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  1826,  Alexander  and  his  brother 
were  entered  at  a  school  established  by.  the  Roman  Catholics  at 
a  place  known  as  Locust  Grove.  Their  attendance  was  but  for 
a  single  quarter,  and  very  irregular  at  that,  as  they  were  often 
required  to  stay  at  home  and  help  in  the  work  of  the  farm. 
Their  teacher  here  was  one  O'Cavanaugh,  an  Irishman. 

"I  came  near,"  Mr.  Stephens  says,  in  the  Finkle  correspondence, 
11  having  a  row  with  O'Cavanaugh  the  first  week  I  went  to  him.  It  was 
one  Friday  evening.  It  was  his  custom  to  exercise  the  scholars  in  spelling 
'by  heart'  every  evening.  The  lesson  for  that  evening  was  in  the  old 
AYebster  spelling-book,  and  in  that  part  where  the  names  of  countries  are 
given.  The  word  that  came  to  me  was  '  Arabia.'  He  pronounced  it  with 
his  peculiar  brogue  in  a  way  that  I  had  never  heard,  and  I  had  not  the 
slightest  conception  of  what  he  said.  He  placed  the  accent  on  the  first 
syllable,  instead  of  the  second,  and  gave  the  A  the  sound  of  Ah,  instead 
of  that  in  '  fate,'  as  I  had  always  been  taught.  Not  knowing  what  he 
meant,  I  simply  said,  'I  can't  spell  it,  sir.'  He  replied,  'You  confounded 
little  rascal!  You  tell  me  you  can't  spell  the  word?  Spell  it,  sir!  Ah'- 
rabiaV  I  was  standing  by  the  door,  looking  down  at  the  time,  with  shame 
at  the  idea  of  missing  a  word, — a  thing  most  unusual  with  me  in  spelling, — 
and  as  my  eyes  rose  to  his,  they  glanced  at  some  stones  lying  close  to  the 
door-sill.  His  words  drove  all  shame  out  of  me,  and  aroused  within  me  a 
spirit  of  bold  defiance.  I  had  made  up  my  mind,  after  my  father's  death, 
never  to  let  any  man  lay  violent  hands  on  me  with  impunity.  As  my  eyes 
met  his,  I  said,  'Mr.  O'Cavanaugh,  I  did  not  understand  you,  and  I  don't 
understand  you  now.  I  can  spell  every  word  in  the  lesson  if  it  is  pro 
nounced  as  I  pronounce  it.  But  I  thought  it  better  to  tell  you  that  I  could 
not  spell  the  word  as  you  gave  it  out  than  to  say  I  did  not  understand 
you.  It  was  bad  enough  for  me  to  miss  the  word  as  I  did  ;  but,  sir,  you 
shall  not  speak  to  me  in  that  way.' 

"  In  an  instant  the  whole  school  was  still,  all  gazing  at  O'Cavanaugh 
and  me,  while  we  stood  looking  steadily  at  each  other.  He  seemed  to  be 
struck  with  as  much  amazement  as  his  scholars.  At  one  moment  I  thought 
he  was  going  to  bring  his  switch,  which  he  was  holding  in  his  hand,  down 
upon  me ;  and  my  determination  was,  if  he  did,  to  let  him  have  one  of  the 
stones  lying  at  the  door-sill.  But  I  saw  a  change  pass  like  a  shadow  over 
his  countenance,  and  his  eye  turned  from  me  as  he  said,  '  The  next.'  No 
other  word  came  to  me.  The  class  was  dismissed,  and  with  it  the  school. 

"  This  was  another  epoch  in  my  life.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
faced  a  man  as  his  equal.  From  that  time  my  character  was  set.  It  was 
also  established  in  the  estimation  of  that  school.  Up  to  that  time  I  was 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  45 

looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  poor,  pitiful  orphan  boy,  whom  most  treated  with 
passing  Idndness  from  mere  feelings  of  sympathy.  It  was  known  that  my 
father  and  step-mother  had  just  died,  and  my  whole  bearing  was  that  of 
one  in  deep  grief.  But  on  that  evening  the  big  boys,  Bob  Wheeler,  Rus 
sell  Flewellen,  and  others,  who  boarded  at  William  Luckett's,  right  on  my 
road  home,  walked  with  my  brother  and  myself,  a  thing  they  had  never 
done  before,  and  talked  of  nothing  else  but  my  adventure.  They  said 
that  they  had  expected  to  see  O'Cavanaugh  flay  me  alive,  and  evinced 
great  astonishment  at  the  spirit  I  had  shown.  From  that  day  they  looked 
upon  me  in  an  altogether  different  light  from  what  they  had  done  before. 

"  Now  it  so  happened  that  on  the  next  Monday  my  brother  and  I  were 
kept  at  home  to  help  in  harvesting  the  wheat,  and  we  were  engaged  at.it 
all  the  week.  On  the  following  Saturday,  O'Cavanaugh  came  to  Uncle 
Grier  s,  as  we  learned  when  we  went  to  dinner,  to  see  about  our  absence. 
He  thought  we  had  quitted  school  on  account  of  what  had  occurred  be 
tween  him  and  me,  to  which  he  made  some  reference,  never  doubting  that 
we  had  told  our  own  story.  All  this  was  new  to  Uncle  Grier,  for  neither 
my  brother  nor  I  had  said  a  word  about  it  at  home.  Uncle  told  him  we 
had  stayed  at  home  to  help  to  harvest  the  wheat,  but  would  be  at  school 
again  on  the  following  Monday,  an  announcement  at  which  he  seemed 
much  gratified.  So  on  Monday  we  went  back,  and  never  a  cross  word 
passed  between  O'Cavanaugh  and  myself  from  that  time  during  the  whole 
three  months  that  I  went  to  him.  Indeed,  he  seemed  rather  to  take  a 
fancy  to  me.  I  was,  if  anything,  too  studious,  and  learned  too  fast.  He 
always  addressed  me  in  the  mildest  and  most  friendly  manner.  He,  too, 
boarded  at  Luckett's,  and  sometimes  he  would  walk  and  talk  with  us  on 
the  way.  I  really  got  to  like  him  very  much." 

In  the  following  year,  1827,  his  uncle,  Aaron  "VV.  Grier,  mar 
ried.  He  had  made  an  arrangement  at  the  close  of  the  preced 
ing  year  with  Aaron,  Alexander's  brother,  by  which  he,  instead 
of  going  to  school,  should  stay  upon  his  uncle's  farm  and  re 
ceive  compensation  for  his  services.  The  same  offer  was  made 
to  Alexander,  but  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to  continue  at  school. 
"  My  object  was,"  he  explains  in  the  correspondence,  "  to  get 
sufficient  education  to  become  a  merchant's  clerk,  as  I  did  not 
believe  I  should  ever  be  physically  able  to  make  a  living  by 
farm-work,  and  after  saving  some  money,  to  pursue  my  studies 
further,  if  I  could." 

His  request  was  granted,  and  he  returned  to  the  Locust  Grove 
Academy  early  in  1827.  But  the  administration  had  changed: 
O'Cavanaugh  had  retired  and  been  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Welch, 
his  assistant  in  the  previous  year,  and  Alexander  soon  grew  to 


46  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

like  the  new  master  even  better  than  he  had  grown  to  like  the 
old. 

"  He  was  always  kind  to  me,  and  indeed  was  never  a  tyrant  to  any  one. 
His  discipline  was  altogether  different  from  that  of  O'Cavanaugh.  With 
him  I  studied  arithmetic.  I  also  read,  and  exercised  daily  in  writing ;  but 
arithmetic  was  the  main  study.  During  the  three  months  of  the  previous 
year  I  had  taken  up  this  study  where  I  had  left  it  off  in  my  former  school 
ing,  that  is,  at  the  Single  Rule  of  Three,  and  had  had  exercises  in  reading, 
writing,  and  spelling.  But  in  1827  I  commenced  at  the  beginning  of  the 
old  Federal  Calculator,  reviewed  all  the  first  rules,  and  went  regularly 
through  the  book,  writing  out  a  careful  transcript  of  every  problem  or  sum. 
At  the  end  of  the  term  in  June  I  was  through,  and  was  master  of  the 
book." 

At  the  close  of  this  term,  Alexander  concluded  to  quit  school 
and  seek  a  clerk's  place,  if  such  a  situation  could  be  found.  But 
it  was  a  sad  day  to  him  when  he  left  the  school. 

"I  well  remember,"  he  says,  u  my  feelings  the  last  evening  I  was  at  that 
school.  I  remember  how  I  gathered  up  all  my  things, — books,  papers, 
slate-pencils,  and  ink, — put  some  in  my  basket  and  some  under  my  arm, 
and  then  bade  all  good-bye.  I  reflected,  as  I  walked  along  the  path  home 
ward,  that  this  was  the  last  time  I  should  ever  tread  its  beaten  track,  and 
the  last  day  I  should  ever  go  to  school.  Life,  I  thought,  was  just  then 
beginning  to  open  before  me.  The  next  week  I  was  to  go  to  Crawford- 
ville,  to  seek  employment  in  a  store." 

Allusion  is  made  to  this  afternoon  in  his  private  journal, 
before  referred  to,  which  was  begun  in  1836.  The  loss  of  a 
father  so  much  loved  and  honored,  and  the  sudden  breaking- 
up  of  the  family,  which  followed,  had  induced  habits  of  unusual 
seriousness  and  even  melancholy  in  both  these  brothers.  Speak 
ing  of  their  school-days,  in  1826,  he  says  in  his  journal : 

"  We  were  reserved,  mixed  but  little  with  the  other  scholars,  and  applied 
ourselves  closely  to  our  studies." 

Again : 

"  In  1827  my  mind  had  not  yet  lost  its  serious  cast,  which,  at  this  time, 
was  becoming  somewhat  religious.  I  never  had  been  vicious  or  openly 
wicked ;  but  at  this  time  I  began  to  reflect  seriously  upon  the  subject  of 
my  moral  condition  and  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  my  very  long 
lonely  walks  to  and  from  school  were  not  unfavorable  to  such  meditations." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  47 

Further  on,  when  speaking  of  the  close  of  the  summer  term 
of  1827,  he  says: 

"  I  then  thought  it  would  be  an  improvident  waste  of  money  to  continue 
at  school  longer  unless  I  had  means  to  commence  a  regular  course  of  study 
preparatory  to  some  profession  ;  but  this  being  out  of  the  question,  I 
quitted  school  with  the  thought  that  I  had  now  finished  my  education. 
.  .  ..  My  intention  then  was  to  get  into  some  business  as  a  clerk,  to 
make  money  if  I  could,  and  if  fortune  favored  me,  afterwards  to  resume 
my  studies  ;  for  I  had  already  caught  a  thirst  for  knowledge  which  nothing 
but  the  want  of  a  little  money  prevented  me  from  satisfying.  I  spent  a 
few  days  at  home,  unemployed,  and  it  was  during  that  short  period  that 
the  scale  of  my  fortunes  turned,  whether  for  the  better  or  worse  I  cannot 
tell.  But  what  to  me  afterward  has  appeared  passing  strange  is  that  I 
then  knew  it  not.  Those  days  came  and  passed  like  others,  nor  did  their 
events  seem  to  involve  unusual  consequences  ;  yet  unimportant  as  they 
seemed,  their  results  gave  a  stamp  to  my  character  and  a  new  direction 
to  my  life." 

This  turn  of  the  scale  is  told  at  length  in  "  Mr.  Pinkie's" 
letter  last  referred  to.  He  says  : 

"  But  now  it  happened  that  on  the  Sunday  following  I  went  to  the  South 
Liberty  Sunday-school,  which  I  still  occasionally  attended,  though  not 
regularly.  When  I  went  I  usually  took  charge  of  a  class.  On  that  day 
Mr.  Mills,  the  superintendent,  inquired  how  I  was  coming  on  in  my  studies 
at  the  academy.  I  told  him  that  I  had  finished ;  my  term  was  out,  and  I 
was  not  going  any  more.  lie  asked  further  what  I  was  going  to  do,  and 
I  told  him  fully  my  views  and  intentions.  He  undertook  to  dissuade  me 
from  them,  and  asked  how  I  would  like  to  go  to  Washington  and  study 
Latin,  to  which  I  answered  that  I  would  like  it  very  well  if  I  had  the 
means,  but  I  had  not.  He  then  proposed,  if  I  was  willing,  to  send  me 
there.  A  Mr.  Webster,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  whom  I  knew  well  by 
reputation,  was  teaching  in  the  academy  at  Washington,  and  to  him  he 
proposed  to  send  me,  if  I  was  willing  to  go. 

"  Here  was  a  posing  question  for  me.  I  said  that  I  co.uld  not  answer 
him  then,  but  would  consult  my  uncle  and  aunt  and  let  him  know  my 
decision.  The  consultation  was  held.  My  uncle  had  but  little  to  say  one 
way  or  the  other,  leaving  me  to  do  as  I  pleased.  My  aunt  was  warmly  in 
favor  of  my  accepting  Mr.  Mills's  proposition,  arguing  that  the  more 
thorough  the  education  I  received  the  better  would  I  be  able  to  repay  him, 
etc.  His  offer  was  a  kind  and  generous  one,  and  highly  complimentary  to 
me,  and  I  ought  by  all  means  to  accept  it  frankly  and  freely.  This  was 
the  general  tenor  of  her  advice.  Mr.  Mills,  I  should  have  stated,  was  a 
gentleman  of  large  means  for  that  day  and  section  of  country. 


48  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

u  The  conclusion  of  the  matter  was  that  I  accepted  the  offer.  My 
clothes  were  got  ready,  and  some  new  ones  made  by  my  aunt,  whose 
whole  soul  seemed  to  be  intent  upon  getting  me  off. 

"  So,  on  the  28th  of  July,  not  much  more  than  a  month  from  the  time 
I  had  left  school,  as  I  thought  forever,  I  started  off  for  Washington  to 
enter  upon  a  new  career  of  study, — a  five  years'  course. 

"  So  that  day  I  went  to  the  Sunday-school  after  I  had  left  the  Locust 
Grove  Academy  was,  though  I  little  dreamed  it  at  the  time,  another  turn 
ing-point  in  my  life.  And  this,  as  well  as  the  subsequent  events  to  which, 
it  gave  rise,  was  intimately  connected  with  my  first  Sunday-school  at  Pow 
der  Creek.  But  for  that  I  should  probably  never  have  been  connected 
with  the  South  Liberty  school,  should  not  have  been  brought  under  the 
notice  of  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Mills  as  I  was,  and  nothing  of  all  this 
would  have  happened.  So  intricately  are  woven  the  web-threads  of  our 
lives. 

"  I  went  to  Washington,  as  I  have  said,  on  the  28th  of  July,  1827.  Mr. 
Mills  carried  me  in  his  buggy.  lie  had  arranged  for  my  boarding  with 
Mr.  Webster,  an  arrangement  that  I  liked,  and  when  we  arrived  I  found 
this  gentleman  and  his  family — he  had  quite  a  number  of  boarders — 
expecting  me.  He  remarked,  '  This  is  the  little  boy  I  have  heard  Mr. 
Williams  speak  about  so  much,'  and  was  verj  agreeable  and  kind  in  his 
reception,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

"On  my  entrance  I  was  immediately  put  in  the  Latin  Grammar  (Ad 
ams's),  and  on  the  18th  of  August  I  commenced  reading  Latin  in  His- 
toricG  Sacrce,  being  put  into  a  class  that  had  been  studying  Latin  all  the 
year.  Here  my  Bible-studies  stood  me  in  good  stead  ;  I  was  familiar  with 
the  whole  history,  had  soon  no  difficulty  in  reading,  and  before  long  was 
at  the  head  of  the  class.  When  the  quarter  closed  with  September  I  had 
finished  Histories  Sacrce,  and  I  began  on  Ccesar  with  the  new  quarter." 

Alexander  had  not  at  first  understood  all  the  reasons  which 
had  actuated  Mr.  Mills  in  making  him  this  generous  offer. 
From  motives  of  prudence,  and  doubtless  of  delicacy,  one  of 
these  reasons  was  withheld.  So  he  attributed  the  conduct  of 
his  benefactor  solely  to  disinterested  kindness  toward  himself  in 
his  orphaned  condition.  Doubtless  this  feeling  had  much  to 
do  in  influencing  the  action  of  this  excellent  gentleman ;  but 
there  was  another  motive  which  became  apparent  afterwards, 
and  probably  soon  enough,  though  the  recipient  of  the  kind 
ness  then  regretted  that  it  had  not  been  disclosed  earlier.  But 
the  regret  arose  chiefly  from  finding  that  not  having  known 
fully  all  the  circumstances,  he  had  not  really  been  so  free  to  act 
and  to  decide  as  he  had  supposed.  This  regret  could  not,  in  a 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  49 

boy  of  fifteen,  take  a  sufficiently  definite  shape  to  allow  him  to 
decide  satisfactorily  to  his  conscience,  his  reason,  and  his  feel 
ings,  whether  he  ought  then  to  draw  back  or  to  continue ;  but 
even  then  he  was  not  so  young  as  not  to  feel  much  embarrass 
ment  when  the  revelation  was  made.  This,  however,  had  been 
anticipated,  and  was  met  by  assurances  which  induced  him  to 
persevere  in  the  pursuit  of  education. 

The  additional  motive  of  Mr.  Mills  in  making  Alexander 
this  offer  was  this:  The  boy  had  greatly  impressed  both  him 
and  Mr.  Williams,  the  founder  of  the  Sunday-school.  His  ex 
tremely  frail  physical  organization,  his  delicate  health,  the  loss 
of  his  parents,  and  his  poverty,  had  produced  a  frame  of  mind 
of  habitual  melancholy,  which,  associated  with  his  constant 
Bible-reading,  had  induced  these  gentlemen  to  see  in  him  the 
subject  of  religious  conviction.  Such  a  mistake  was  most  natural 
under  the  circumsfances,  and  was  strengthened  by  the  youth's 
irreproachable  morality,  and  the  interest  which  he  took  in  Sun 
day-school  education.  Nor  was  it  altogether  a  mistake,  for  his 
mind,  as  we  have  seen  and  shall  see  further  hereafter,  had  been 
led  by  his  many  griefs  to  turn  to  religious  meditation,  as  was 
natural  in  a  youth  of  fifteen,  in  his  deep  sense  of  bereavement 
and  loneliness,  and  with  the  early  teachings  he  had  received. 
From  early  childhood  he  had  been  deeply  impressed  with  the 
principles  of  Christianity,  and  his  mind  now  rendered  doubly 
receptive  of  such  impressions  by  his  mental  and  bodily  suffer 
ings,  his  habits  of  solitude,  the  influence  of  the  religious  char 
acter  of  his  aunt,  his  own  yearnings  over  the  past,  while  looking 
forward  to  a  dreary  future, — these  causes  and  such  as  these  might 
well  be  mistaken  by  himself  and  others  as  promise  of  another 
vocation  and  career  than  that  which  he  afterwards  chose.  And 
when  this  career  was  proposed  for  him,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
he  was  not  capable  of  deciding  for  himself  what  was  his  real 
duty,  and  that  he  yielded  to  the  counsels  of  the  only  friends 
whom  he  had  to  advise  with.  "And  thus,"  he  wrote  years 
afterwards  in  his  journal, — "and  thus  my  destinies  rolled." 
Words  which  well  characterize  actions  which,  in  the  years  of 
his  manhood,  seemed  on  looking  back  to  have  been  done  with 
out  any  volition  on  his  part,  as  if  he  had  been  passive  in  the 


50  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

hands  of  a  destiny  whose  aims  he  could  as  little  understand  as 
he  could  control. 

So  misled,  or  partially  misled,  by  these  appearances  and  the 
interpretation  he  had  put  upon  them,  Mr.  Mills  and  friends  with 
whom  he  had  spoken  of  the  matter  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  saw  in  Alexander  Stephens  one  especially  marked  out 
by  character,  intellect,  and  deep  religious  feeling  for  the  calling 
of  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  they  had  therefore  determined 
to  place  within  his  reach  the  means  of  obtaining  the  necessary 
preparation. 

In  the  journal,  as  well  as  in  the  letter  last  quoted  from,  he 
refers  to  the  time  and  occasion  when  this  disclosure  of  his  friends' 
views  was  made  to  him. 

"When  Mr.  Mills,"  says  the  letter,  "made  the  offer  to  me  to  go  to  the 
academy,  I  thought  it  was  entirely  of  his  own  accord.  But  when  I  had 
been  with  Mr.  Webster  for  some  weeks,  and  he  had  apparently  become 
well  pleased  with  me, — for  he  had  talked  with  me  a  great  deal,  particu 
larly  about  religion,  and  had  even  expressed  an  opinion  of  my  piety, — he 
told  me  that  Mr.  Mills  had  made  the  offer  at  his  instance.  He  had  heard 
the  former  speak  a  great  deal  about  me,  and  he  had  induced  him  to  get 
me,  if  he  could,  to  join  his  school  in  order  that  he  might  grow  better  ac 
quainted  with  me,  and  if  he  should  then  be  satisfied  that  the  representa 
tions  made  to  him  about  me  were  correct,  he  wished  to  have  me  educated 
for  the  ministry.  He  added  that  I  had  fully  come  up  to  all  that  he  had 
heard  of  me,  and  he  urged  upon  me  the  importance  of  fitting  myself  for 
the  ministry,  explaining  that  there  was  a  society,  the  Georgia  Educational 
Society,  formed  for  the  purpose  of  educating  young  men  for  the  ministry 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  This  explanation  of  Mr.  Webster  presented  a  new  view  to  me.  and, one 
by  which  I  was  painfully  embarrassed.  From  very  early  in  life  I  was 
strongly  impressed  with  religious  feeling  ;  and  after  the  death  of  my  father 
this  subject  took  deep  hold  of  me.  During  the  summer  of  1827  I  made 
profession  of  faith,  though  I  had  not  connected  myself  with  any  church 
until  I  went  to  Washington ;  but  whether  I  should  be  fit  to  preach,  or 
should  feel  it  my  duty  to  do  so,  when  I  grew  up,  I  could  not  know.  I 
could  give  him  no  answer  until  I  should  have  consulted  my  aunt,  who  was 
my  Mentor. 

"  So  the  subject  was  left  open  between  us  until  the  end  of  the  quarter 
at  the  close  of  September,  when  Mr.  Webster  accompanied  me  home  to 
my  uncle's  to  see  my  aunt  for  himself.  The  result  of  the  consultation 
was  that  I  should  continue  my  studies  and  go  to  college  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Georgia  Educational  Society,  and  if,  after  graduation,  I  should  not 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  51 

feel  it  my  duty  to  preach  the  gospel,  there  would  be  no  violation  of  good 
faith  on  my  part.  As  for  the  money  expended  on  my  education,  I  should 
in  that  event  refund  it,  whenever,  or  if  ever,  I  was  able  to  do  so.  With 
this  understanding  I  returned." 

For  this  excellent  man,  Mr.  Webster,  Alexander  Stephens 
conceived  a  strong  attachment.  How  much  of  his  yielding  to 
his  suggestions  was  attributable  to  the  kindness  and  the  confi 
dence  that  had  been  bestowed  upon  him,  the  first  that  he  had 
received  from  any  source  beyond  the  circle  of  his  relations,  he 
did  not  then  know,  nor  could  he  say  now.  But  they  awoke  in 
him  admiration,  gratitude,  and  love,  which  in  themselves  were 
blessings  to  him.  He  had  noticed  upon  the  Latin  grammar  his 
teacher  had  given  him,  and  which  was  one  the  latter  had  him 
self  used,  the  owner's  name  written  in  full,  Alexander  Hamilton 
Webster.  It  gave  him  a  feeling  of  joy  that  his  benefactor's 
name  was  in  part  the  same  as  his  own,  and  his  affection  prompted 
him  to  increase  the  similarity.  From  this  time  he  has  always 
written  his  full  name,  Alexander  Hamilton  Stephens. 

Before  another  month  was  over  this  kind  friend  was  no  more. 
In  October  he  was  attacked  by  a  fever  which  proved  fatal.  And 
now,  in  addition  to  the  grief  which  he  felt  at  the  loss  of  one  who 
had  shown  him  so  much  kindness,  Alexander  was  saddened  by 
the  prospect  that  his  own  career  would  probably  undergo  another 
change.  But  there  were  others  who  knew  of  Mr.  Webster's 
plans,  and  after  his  death,  while  the  youth  was  meditating  over 
this  new  affliction,  and  the  changes  it  was  likely  to  bring  to  him, 
Mr.  Adam  L.  Alexander,  a  citizen  of  Washington,  a  leading 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  an  intimate  personal 
friend  of  Mr.  Webster,  came  to  him  saying  that  he  knew  all 
about  his  late  friend's  interest  in  his  behalf,  and  his  wishes,  and 
that  he  desired  them  to  be  carried  out.  He  invited  Alexander 
to  come  to  his  house  while  continuing  his  studies  at  the  school. 
The  Hon.  Duncan  G.  Campbell  (father  of  Justice  John  A.  Camp 
bell,  late  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court),  Mr.  Andrew  G. 
Semmes,  Sr.,  Dr.  Gilbert  Hay,  and  William  Dearing,  all  elders 
in  the  Church,  urged  the  same.  The  academy  was  to  be  con 
tinued  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Magruder,  who  had  been  Mr. 
Webster's  assistant. 


52  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Thus  kindly  urged,  young  Stephens  yielded  to  their  solicita 
tions.  He  became  at  once  an  inmate  of  Mr.  Alexander's  house 
hold,  where  he  continued  until  April  of  the  following  year. 
From  that  time  until  the  end  of  the  term  he  boarded  partly 
with  Dr.  Gilbert  Hay  and  partly  with  Mr.  William  Dearing. 
He  learned  Latin,  Greek,  and  the  other  preparatory  studies  with 
such  rapidity  that  he  was  soon  pronounced  by  his  teacher  to  be 
ready  for  the  Freshman  class  in  the  State  University. 

Returning  to  his  uncle's  at  the  close  of  the  term,  he  was  fitted 
out,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  July  went  back  to  Washington  to 
be  sent  to  Athens.  It  had  been  arranged  that  he  should  be 
taken  to  the  university  by  Mr.  Campbell,  but  this  gentleman 
was  seized  with  fever  and  died  within  a  week.  The  youth,  thus 
Deprived  of  another  friend,  was  sent  to  Athens  in  company  with 
a  son  of  Mr.  Semmes.  They  arrived  the  Saturday  before  com 
mencement,  the  applicant  was  admitted  without  difficulty,  and 
thus  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  his  career. 


CHAPTER   V. 

Goes  to  the  University — Expects  to  enter  the  Ministry — Happy  Days — A 
Piece  of  rare  Good  Luck — Diligence  in  Study — Social  Enjo}*ments — One 
Shadow — A  Silent  Struggle  and  a  Final  Kesolution — A  Debt  discharged. 

THE  president  of  the  university  at  that  time  was  the  Rev. 
Moses  Waddell,  D.D.,  and  the  Rev.  Alonzo  Church — afterwards 
Dr.  Church,  and  successor  to  President  Waddell — was  one  of  the 
professors.  Notwithstanding  the  embarrassment  which  might 
arise  from  the  mention  of  the  terms  on  which  Mr.  Stephens  had 
gone  there,  he  resolved  to  explain  them,  in  order  that  his  posi 
tion  might  be  as  fully  understood  by  the  faculty  as  it  had  been 
by  Mr.  Webster.  Here  again  he  found  that  the  acquaintance 
with  his  condition  .had  preceded  him.  In  the  letter  referring  to 
this  time  occurs  the  following  passage : 

"  I  had  a  letter  to  Dr.  Waddell.  He  knew  all  about  the  circumstances 
of  my  going,  and  gave  me  a  long  talk.  I  was  as  frank  with  him  as  I  had 
been  with  Mr.  Webster.  At  that  time  it  was  my  inclination  and  expecta 
tion  to  enter  the  ministry  ;  but  my  views  might  change.  All  that,  he  said, 
was  well  understood.  The  object  of  the  society  was  to  afford  means  of 
education  to  those  who  were  thought  to  be  pious,  and  who  would  be  suited 
to  the  ministry ;  but  that  it  was  entirely  optional  with  those  thus  aided  to 
pursue  the  study  of  divinity  or  not  when  the  proper  time  should  come." 

Dr.  Church  had  known  Mr.  "Webster, — had,  indeed,  been  a 
warm  personal  friend  of  his.  He  proposed  to  young  Stephens 
to  board  in  his  family;  a  proposition  which  was  accepted,  and 
here  he  remained  until  his  graduation. 

It  was  always  a  pleasure  to  Mr.  Stephens  in  after-life  to  recur 
to  his  college-days  as  the  happiest  time  he  had  ever  known. 
But  to  get  as  full  an  account  of  this  period  as  possible,  "  Mr. 
Giles''  procured  a  re-opening  of  the  Finkle  correspondence, 
which  had  been  suspended  during  the  summer  on  account  of 
Mr.  Stephens's  residence  in  Richmond,  and  the  occupation  of 

53 


54  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS. 

his  time  with  public  matters.  In  the  beginning  of  September 
"  Mr.  Giles"  addressed  a  note  to  his  correspondent,  asking  him, 
if  possible,  to  lead  his  patron  into  a  conversation  about  his 
college-days,  and  send  him  a  report  of  it.  This  letter  remained 
unanswered  for  about  six  weeks,  though  the  writer,  growing 
impatient,  sent  many  oral  messages  to  his  friend,  complaining  of 
his  tardiness.  At  last,  on  October  13th  (1863),  the  long-delayed 
answer  arrived,  bearing  date  the  previous  day.  It  began  (of 
course  in  the  character  of  Finkle)  in  rather  a  jocular  tone,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  extracts.  After  some  prefatory  remarks  on 
the  difficulty  the  writer  has  had  in  bringing  "  Boss"  to  the 
subject  of  inquiry,  it  continues : 

u  Last  night,  however,  he  and  I  were  together  in  his  room.  It  was  late, 
and  all  were  asleep  but  ourselves.  Tim  and  Anthony  were  snoring  ;  Binks* 
was  asleep  on  his  rug,  and  Troupf  was  barking  in  the  yard.  Boss  had 
laid  down  his  pen  after  answering  the  last  letter  on  the  table,  and  looking 
at  me,  said,  '  Peter,  it  is  bedtime,  isn't  it?'  I  thought,  from  all  the  indi 
cations,  that  it  was  the  most  favorable  time  that  had  offered  yet  to  mention 
the  subject  of  your  letter ;  for,  though  it  was  late,  I  saw  that  he  was  not 
sleepy,  and  he  had  been  talking  very  freely  with  the  ' Squire J  and  the 
Parson^  before  they  went  to  bed,  and  he  had  been  joking  the  'Squire  a 
little,  and  so  forth.  So  I  said,  '  Boss,  here  is  a  letter  I  had  from  Giles 
some  time  ago  :  suppose  you  look  at  it  before  you  go  to  bed.'  Upon  this, 
he  took  the  letter  and  read  it." 

Here  follow  some  remarks  on  Mr.  Giles's  spelling,  and  on 
spelling  in  general,  which  we  omit;  after  which  "Boss"  comes 
to  the  request  contained  in  the  letter. 

"  '  I  cannot  give  either  you  or  any  one  a  full  or  exact  idea  of  my  college- 
days.  They  were  by  far  the  happiest  days  of  my  life.  In  memory  they 
seem  more  like  a  dream  than  a  remembered  reality.  The  sudden  change 
of  my  feelings  after  I  left  college  and  went  out  into  the  world  was  like 
the  change  wrought  in  tender  and  luxuriant  vegetation  by  a  severe  and 
sudden  frost.  The  very  soul  of  my  life  seemed  nipped  and  killed.  All 
my  days  at  college  were  pleasant.  Not  a  word  of  censure,  or  even  of 

*  "  Sir  Bingo  Binks,"  a  pet  dog.  f  The  yard-dog. 

J  This  was  the  usual  appellation  given  by  the  country  people  to  the  Hon. 
George  F.  Bristow,  of  that  village,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  intimate 
friend  of  Mr.  Stephens. 

I  Mr.  O'Neal. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   If.  STEPHENS.  55 

reproof,  was  ever  addressed  to  me  by  professor  or  tutor.  I  was  on  good 
terms  with  them  all,  and  indeed  seemed  to  be  a  favorite  with  all,  from  the 
president  down.  Dr.  Waddell,  the  president,  seemed  to  be  favorably  im 
pressed  toward  me  from  the  day  of  my  admission.  He  examined  me  on 
that  occasion. 

"  '  And,  by  the  by,  on  that  occasion  I  happened  to  meet  with  a  rare  piece 
of  good  luck, — the  rarest,  I  have  often  thought,  of  my  life.  Some  persons 
are  distinguished  for  good  luck,  or  what  is  called  luck:  I  never  was.  The 
instance  I  refer  to  was  the  most  important,  or  at  least  the  most  memorable, 
of  my  life.  When  I  went  up  to  college,  I  went  alone,  and  arrived  the  night 
before  commencement.  Next  day,  the  candidates  for  admission  were  to 
be  examined  in  the  chapel  at  ten  o'clock.  So  ran  the  programme.  I  knew 
of  no  other  way  of  proceeding  but  to  go  to  the  place  stated  at  the  hour 
specified.  Perhaps  if  I  had  asked  Professor  Church  or  Dr.  AVaddell  (to 
both  of  whom  I  had  letters),  either  would  have  advised  me  not  to  go  there, 
but  to  be  examined  privately.  But  being  green,  I  asked  no  questions,  but 
went,  taking  my  Virgil  and  Greek  Testament,  the  books  my  teacher  in 
Washington  had  told  me  I  should  be  examined  in.  At  school  I  had  read 
Csesar,  Virgil,  and  Cicero's  orations  against  Catiline.  These,  I  had  been 
told,  were  all  that  would  be  required,  but  that  I  should  be  examined  on 
Virgil.  I  had  reviewed  nothing — not  a  line — while  I  was  at  school;  but 
while  at  home  I  had  reviewed  Virgil  thoroughly,  or  at  least  so  much  as  I 
had  read  at  school.  I  had  not  looked  into  my  Cicero. 

" '  When  I  went  into  the  chapel,  I  found  a  large  class  seated  for  ex 
amination.  They  were  nearly  all  from  what  was  then  known  as  the 
grammar-school  connected  with  the  college,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Moses  Dobbins.  I  took  my  seat  at  the  foot  of  the  class,  feeling  foolish 
enough,  and  looking,  I  suspect,  just  as  foolish  <is  I  felt.  I  counted  the 
squad  ;  there  were  twenty-six  of  us  in  all.  The  faculty  were  all  present. 
Professor  Church,  I  thought,  showed  some  surprise  at  seeing  me  enter 
and  take  my  seat  with  the  candidates,  but  he  said  nothing.  Dr.  Waddell 
presently  began  the  examination,  and  to  my  horror  he  set  off  with  Cicero, — 
the  first  oration  in  the  book,  and  one  I  had  never  read  a  line  in.  What 
was  I  to  do?  Despair  seized  me.  I  thought  I  was  ruined.  I  should  be 
rejected !  I  was  in  agony.  I  borrowed  a  Cicero  from  one  of  the  boys, 
and  looked  over  the  oration  to  see  if  I  could  read  any  part  of  it ;  but  the 
attempt  was  very  far  from  satisfactory.  I  had  a  thought  of  getting  up  and 
leaving  the  room,  but  I  reflected  that  that  would  never  do ;  so  I  concluded 
to  stand  my  ground,  and  when  they  should  come  to  me  to  tell  them  frankly 
I  had  read  but  the  four  orations  against  Catiline,  and  had  not  reviewed 
any  of  them,  as  I  had  expected  to  be  examined  in  Virgil. 

"'While  I  was  in  this  state  of  anxiety  the  examination  progressed. 
Soon  I  found  them  in  the  second  oration  ;  soon  after  in  the  third.  Then 
hope  began  to  spring  up.  I  thought  may-be  they  will  reach  the  orations 
against  Catiline  before  my  turn  comes.  Sure  enough,  the  first  oration 


56  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

against  Catiline  was  reached,  and  several  were  still  before  me.  My  hopes 
began  to  brighten.  I  thought  that  by  a  little  reflection  I  could  make  out 
to  read  my  portion  of  these  quite  as  well  as  I  saw  the  other  boys  getting 
on  with  theirs.  But  the  first  oration  was  passed  ;  then  the  second  ;  then 
the  third;  and  the  fourth  was  reached  before  my  turn  came.  Just  at  this 
moment  my  luck  or  my  guardian  angel  came  to  my  relief. 

"  l  Next !'  said  Dr.  Waddell,  in  his  deep  guttural  tone.  I  rose,  trem 
bling  from  head  to  foot.  "On  the  next  page,  beginning  with  the  words, 
Video  duas  adhuc"  said  he.  I  turned  to  the  paragraph,  and  in  it  recognized 
the  only  part  of  either  of  the  orations  I  had  read  at  school  that  I  remem 
bered  perfectly.  I  had  been  very  much  struck  and  impressed  with  it 
when  I  had  read  it.  It  is  where  Cicero  refers  to  the  two  opinions  as  to 
what  should  be  done  with  the  conspirators :  that  of  Cato,  who  thought 
they  should  be  executed ;  and  that  of  Caesar,  who  opposed  this  sentence, 
contending  that  the  gods  alone  should  take  life.  I  was  deeply  interested 
with  these  views  on  reading  them,  as  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
heard  the  right  of  capital  punishment  called  in  question  ;  and  I  perfectly 
understood  every  word  of  the  paragraph. 

" '  I  was  reassured  and  collected  in  a  moment,  and  read  clearly,  and 
without  stop  or  hesitation,  down  to  "  appetivernnt."  All  eyes  were  upon 
me  in  an  instant.  The  old  doctor  pushed  up  his  spectacles  to  see  who  it 
was.  "Parse  vita"  says  he.  This  I  did  without  a  moment's  hesitation  ; 
putting  it  in  the  ablative,  governing  it  by  "frui"  and  giving  the  rule: 
"  utor,  abutor,fruor,fungor,  potior,  and  vescor  govern  the  ablative."  "  Parse 
punctum"  said  he.  This  I  did,  putting  it  in  the  accusative,  and  giving 
the  rule :  "  time  how  long  is  put  in  the  accusative."  I  learned  afterwards 
that  these  two  rules  were  pets  with  the  old  doctor,  and  that  a  boy  who 
showed  acquaintance  with  them  always  made  a  good  impression  upon  him. 
He  put  no  further  question  to  me  that  I  recollect.  He  said  that  I  had 
read  very  well,  or  something  of  that  import,  which  he  had  not  said  to  any 
of  the  others,  and  I  felt  relieved.  In  the  afternoon  I  was  again  fortunate  in 
getting  a  verse  in  the  Greek  Testament  that  I  knew  perfectly.  But  getting 
that  paragraph  in  Cicero  I  have  always  considered  the  greatest  piece  of 
luck  of  my  life.  Had  it  been  any  other  part  but  just  that,  I  should  not 
have  come  off  so  well.  The  impression  made  on  Dr.  Waddell  lasted  as 
long  as  I  remained  there. 

"'When  I  went  home  to  dinner  with  Dr.  Church,  he  asked  me  with  a 
smile  if  I  had  been  scared.  I  said  yes  ;  and  told  him  just  how  the  matter 
stood  with  me,  and  that  I  had  not  expected  to  be  examined  in  Cicero. 
But,  to  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  Peter,  I  did  not  tell  him  that  I  hap 
pened  to  get  the  only  passage  in  the  book  that  I  could  read  in  that  style. 

"  *  During  the  four  years  that  I  spent  at  college,  I  was  never  absent 
from  roll-call  without  a  good  excuse  ;  was  never  fined ;  and,  to  the  best 
of  my  belief,  never  had  a  demerit  mark  against  me  in  college  or  in  the 
society — the  Phi  Kappa — to  which  I  belonged.  No  one  in  my  class,  at 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  57 

any  examination,  ever  got  a  better  circular  than  I  did.  AVhilc  I  was  on 
good  terms  with  the  faculty,  I  was  on  quite  as  good  with  the  boys.  I  did 
not  have  a  quarrel  while  I  was  there  ;  and  if  there  was  one  who  disliked 
me,  I  did  not  know  it.  My  room,  from  first  to  last,  was  the  resort  for  a 
large  number,  more  so  than  that  of  any  other  boy  in  my  class.  I  enjoyed 
company  very  much.  In  my  rooms  we  talked,  laughed,  told  stories,  and 
indulged  in  fun  and  good  humor  more  than  in  any  room  in  college.  But 
there  was  never  any  dissipation  in  it :  neither  liquor  nor  cards  were  ever 
introduced  ;  nor  were  indecent  stories  or  jests  ever  allowed.  My  intimates 
and  associates  were  a  strange  compound.  Boys  met  there  who  never  met 
nor  recognized  each  other  elsewhere ;  the  most  dissipated  young  men  in 
college  would  come  to  my  room,  and  there  meet  tne  most  ascetically  pious. 

" '  I  was  always  liberal  in  my  boyish  entertainments.  I  "  treated''  as  much 
in  the  way  of  fruit,  melons,  and  other  nicknacks  in  season  as  any  other  boy 
in  college  ;  and  yet  my  average  annual  expenses  were  only  two  hundred  and 
five  dollars.  My  entertainments  were  of  an  inexpensive  kind,  but  they  were 
relished  by  all.  Tobacco  was  not  on  my  list.  What  I  saved  in  hats,  shoes, 
and  clothes  I  spent  in  this  way.  It  was  noj  to  gain  popularity :  I  never 
thought  of  that ;  but  only  to  give  pleasure  and  entertainment  to  those 
about  me ;  and  I  endeavored  to  do  this  as  much  by  promoting  agreeable 
conversation  and  cheerful  social  intercourse  as  by  the  little  refreshments 
which  were  always  to  be  found  in  my  room  in  the  proper  season. 

"  '  Laughter,  even  though  uproarious,  in  my  room  would  never  bring 
any  of  the  faculty  to  look  after  it ;  nor  were  such  bursts  ever  to  be  heard 
there  at  improper  hours.  Had  such  peals  of  merriment  as  were  often 
heard  there  proceeded  from  other  rooms,  they  would  have  excited  sus 
picion  that  there  was  liquor  about,  and  the  matter  would  have  been  looked 
into  ;  but  I  think  no  such  suspicions  were  ever  provoked  by  any  mirthful 
demonstrations  in  mine,  though  there  were  many  such  during  the  four 
years,  which  seemed  long  years  to  me  then,  but  short — how  short!  now.'  " 

This  feeling  tribute  to  his  boyhood  from  a  man  of  so  many 
experiences,  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  allusions 
made  by  Mr.  Stephens  regarding  any  portion  of  his  life.  In 
those  days  of  which  we  shall  again  hear  him  speak,  his  contem 
plation  of  his  own  peculiar  case,  his  being  supplied  by  others 
with  the  pecuniary  means  for  the  gratification  of  his  highest 
aims,  without  which  those  aims  must  have  been  abandoned,  his 
deep  gratitude  for  that  assistance,  and  his  religious  feelings  and 
expectations,  all  contributed  to  make  his  life  as  blameless  and  as 
happy  as  was  ever  led  by  a  student  in  college;  and  in  reverting 
to  it  now,  he  does  not  refrain  from  expressing  to  his  friend  the 
value  he  places  upon  it.  He  is  a  man  to  be  envied  who,  in 


58  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

looking  back  to  that  period  of  youth  which  is  exposed  to  so 
many  and  such  strong  temptations,  can  think  and  speak  of  it  as 
it  is  spoken  of  here.  But  let  us  look  a  little  closer  into  the 
heart  of  this  pale  and  slender  boy,  and  see  the  one  small  shadow 
amid  all  the  cheerful  sunshine. 

"  '  My  days  at  college  were  halcyon  days, — unclouded,  prosperous,  and 
happy.  Not  an  incident  occurred  to  cause  regret;  nor  have  I  one  un 
pleasant  remembrance  connected  with  those  four  years.  And  yet  my 
happiness  was  not  without  alloy.  It  is  said  that  every  house  has  its  skele 
ton  :  perhaps  this  is  even  more  true  of  every  heart.  My  skeleton  was  the 
circumstances  attending  my  going  to  college,  and  the  manner  of  my  going. 
I  had  not  been  there  long  before  I  had  doubts  whether  I  should  ever  fulfil 
the  expectations  of  my  friends  and  my  own  early  inclinations  as  to  entering 
the  ministry.  I  was  tormented  by  the  idea  that  if  I  should  not,  I  should 
appear  ungrateful  and  mean.  It  was  a  source  of  mortification  to  me  to 
think  that  I  had  ever  accepted  the  terms  proposed  to  me  by  Mr.  Mills ; 
and  I  looked  upon  the  acceptance  as  the  error  of  an  unthinking  boy.  I 
was  poor,  but  proud ;  proud,  not  of  money,  personal  appearance,  position, 
or  talent,  but  proud  of  character  and  integrity ;  and  the  thought  that  my 
conduct  might  be  misinterpreted,  and  my  motives  misunderstood,  distressed 
me.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  the  latter  part  of  my  course,  when 
I  had  nearly  concluded  to  abandon  all  idea  of  becoming  a  student  of 
divinity. 

"  '  Still,  I  did  not  permit  these  thoughts  to  render  me  unhappy.  Sus 
tained  by  an  inward  consciousness  of  rectitude,  I  drove  them  from  my 
mind.  But  this  was  my  skeleton.  Apart  from  this,  no  college-days  were 
ever  happier  than  mine.  I  stood  well  with  the  faculty,  with  my  fellow- 
students,  and  with  the  town's-people,  and  had  not,  to  my  knowledge,  an 
enemy  in  the  world.'  " 

Mr.  Stephens  had  been  in  college  about  two  years  when  his 
mind  became  decided — not  until  after  much  and  anxious,  even 
painful,  reflection — on  the  subject  of  his  entering  the  ministry. 
The  silent  struggle  that  went  on  in  the  secret  recesses  of  his  heart, 
as  he  strove  to  see  where  his  true  duty  lay,  was  known  to  none 
but  himself.  He  was  a  Christian,  and  felt  a  Christian's  respon 
sibility  for  faithful  service ;  but  decided  at  last  that  not  in  the 
fields  of  the  ministry  was  that  service  to  be  performed.  So  soon 
as  he  had  decided,  his  first  act  was  to  go  to  work  for  the  dis 
charge  of  the  debt  which  he  had  incurred.  How  this  was  done 
we  find  in  the  Finkle  correspondence,  under  the  date  of  May 
26th,  1863. 


LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  59 

" l  After  I  had  been  in  college  about  two  years,  while  my  religions  feel 
ings  continued  as  strong  as  ever  (though  they  were  never  zealous  or 
enthusiastic,  but  rather  serious,  quiet,  and  calm),  I  felt  much  less  inclina 
tion  to  preach.  Indeed,  I  did  not  think  myself  adapted  for  the  pulpit. 
I  felt  deeply  embarrassed  by  my  situation.  I  communicated  my  feelings 
to  my  uncle,  who  was  my  guardian,  and  had  my  little  patrimony  in  his 
hands.  Although  I  was  under  age,  he  allowed  me  to  control  it.  With 
this  I  paid  my  own  way,  and  by  borrowing  from  my  brother  raised  enough 
to  relieve  myself  from  all  obligation  to  the  Education  Society,  refunding, 
with  interest,  all  that  they  had  advanced  for  me. 

11  i  I  felt  much  more  independent  when  I  was  paying  my  own  way  ;  but 
not  the  less  grateful  to  those  who  had  shown  so  much  kindness  toward  me, 
and  had  taken  so  much  interest  in  my  behalf.  All  seemed  to  do  justice 
to  my  motives  ;  and  I  never  heard  an  unkind  expression  or  intimation  from 
any  one  when,  as  I  drew  near  the  end  of  my  collegiate  course,  it  was  known 
that  I  did  not  expect  to  enter  the  ministry.  Dr.  Church,  with  whom  I 
frequently  conversed  on  the  subject,  never  evinced  the  slightest  disappro 
bation  ;  but  I  have  always  regretted  that  Mr.  Mills,  when  he  first  made 
the  proposal  to  me,  did  not  explain  it  more  fully,  with  his  objects  and 
intentions.  If  he  had  done  so,  I  think  I  should  not  have  acceded  to  his 
terms,  and  my  path  in  life  might  then  have  been  very  different.  That 
great  turning-point,  passed  so  unconsciously  on  the  Sunday  I  went  to 
South  Liberty  Church  after  quitting  Welch's  school,  might  have  sent  me 
adrift  in  a  very  different  way.  How  little  we  know  of  our  destiny,  or 
upon  what  a  slender  thread  it  often  hangs !'  " 


CHAPTER    VI. 

More  College  Keminiscences — The  Pig  in  Class — Standing  at  Graduation — 
Dr.  Church  and  his  Family — Journal — Goes  to  Madison  and  teaches 
School — Unhappiness — Leaves  Madison — A  Secret  Sorrow. 

IN  the  beginning  of  the  year  1858,  Mr.  Johnston  went  to 
Athens  to  reside  as  a  professor  in  the  State  University.  The 
recitation-room  assigned  to  him  was  that  which  had  long  been 
occupied  by  the  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages.  Shortly 
after  taking  his  place,  he  wrote  from  that  room  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  was  then  at  Washington,  filling  the  last  term  of 
his  service  in  Congress.  The  change  of  place  and  of  fortunes, 
and  the  allusion  to  that  especial  room,  brought  to  his  mind  many 
recollections  of  his  own  times,  and  gave  rise  to  a  letter,  portions 
of  which  are  hereto  appended.  And  if  we  dwell  somewhat  at 
length  on  this  particular  portion  of  his  life,  it  must  be  remem 
bered  how  great  an  influence  it  had  in  shaping  his  mind  and 
character. 

After  mentioning  that  he  had  heard  thrpngh  friends  of  his 
correspondent's  removal  to  the  university,  he  thus  proceeds : 

"Yet  all  that  I  had  thus  learned  of  your  whereabouts  came  far  short 
of  the  satisfaction  which  your  letter  afforded.  The  picture  you  gave  of 
that  old  recitation-room  was  a  treat  in  itself.  It  vividly  brought  to  my 
mind  some  ludicrous  scenes  of  many  years  ago.  There  old  man  Hopkins 
used  to  sit  and  have  recitations  in  Blair's  Lectures.  There  Lehman  used 
to  drill  us  in  Greek,  and  make  us  laugh  at  his  attempts  to  speak  English. 
There  Shannon  used  to  warm  into  enthusiasm  while  he  unfolded  to  us  the 
beauties  of  Cicero's  De  Oratore.  And  there,  too,  the  boys  used  to  play 
tricks  on  the  aforesaid  professors. 

"  One  day,  while  Hopkins  had  us  in  charge,  a  little  mangy  pig  was 
slipped  in  at  the  door.  Professor  Hopkins  was  a  venerable  old  man,  who 
wore  a  long  queue  of  silvery  whiteness;  and  the  pig's  tail  was  arranged 
so  as  to  present  as  close  a  resemblance  as  possible  to  this  queue,  lie  bore 
the  joke  with  the  philosophy  of  Socrates,  while  the  young  rascals  roared 
with  laughter.  The  pig  walked  about  the  room,  grunting  at  frequent 
60 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  61 

intervals,  and  at  each  grunt  shaking  its  queue,  a  performance  which  at 
each  repetition  brought  a  new  burst  of  merriment.  Some  laughed  till  they 
cried.  Poor  old  man!  I  don't  know  what  has  become  of  him.  I  won 
der  if  you  will  have  such  a  set  of  fellows  as  he  had.  If  so,  may  you  bear 
with  them  as  he  did. 

"  Shannon  was  fiery  and  passionate.  He  was  fond  of  fiddling,  but  could 
not  bear  to  hear  any  one  whistle  ;  it  almost  threw  him  into  tits.  One  day 
some  fellow  sauntered  along  the  passage,  whistling.  Shannon  shut  the 
book  and  bounded  to  the  door.  The  fellow  heard  him  coming  and  bolted 
down  the  steps,  Shannon  after  him ;  but  the  culprit  escaped  into  some 
one  of  the  rooms.  The  .professor  returned,  baffled,  but  with  such  a  look 
as  silenced  at  once  the  laugh  his  exit  had  excited.  Soon  after  this  inci 
dent,  a  student — perhaps  the  same — came  up  to  the  door  and  bleated  like 
a  goat.  Shannon  sprang  again  to  the  door,  but  the  key  being  on  the  out 
side,  the  offender  gave  it  a  turn,  and  raised  a  loud  ha!  ha!  of  derision. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  incidents  your  account  of  your  locus  in  quo 
brings  to  my  mind.  Who  knows  what  trains  of  thought  a  word  may 
sometimes  start!  My  comrades  and  associates  of  that  day,  where  are 
they  ?  Many  of  them  are  dead.  Peace  to  their  ashes,  and  honor  to  their 
memories.  Those  of  us  who  yet  remain  must  follow  soon.  The  last  time 
I  left  that  room,  and  the  rest,  I  did  it  with  a  sad  heart,  and  took  a  formal 
farewell.  The  memories  of  the  pleasant  hours  I  had  passed  in  each 
crowded  upon  me.  The  deep  gloom  of  an  uncertain  and  impenetrable 
future  was  settling  closely,  heavily,  and  darkly  around  me.  Almost  with 
tears  I  bade  farewell  to  those  old  familiar  halls.  Even  then  I  had  had 
some  foreshadowing  of  the  bitter  pangs  I  should  suffer  in  the  severance 
of  the  ties  that  bound  me  there.  But  how  little  did  I  know  or  even  con 
jecture  of  that  real  agony  of  spirit  which  life's  conflicts  so  soon  inflicted ! 
Few  mortals  have  ever  suffered  what  I  did  for  some  years  after  I  left  col 
lege.  Indeed,  I  believe  but  few  mortals  are  capable  of  enduring  what  I 
endured. 

"But  why  does  my  mind  still  run  on  in  this  train?  It  is  that  recita 
tion-room  with  its  associations." 

Here  the  letter  branches  off  into  a  criticism  upon  a  story  the 
writer  had  been  recently  reading.  It  concludes  thus : 

"  And  now  I  must  bid  you  good-night.  It  is  late.  I  have  been  writing 
until  I  can  hardly  make  letters  that  you  can  decipher.  I  do  trust  that  you 
will  succeed  well  in  your  new  situation,  be  useful  to  yourself  and  to  others, 
and  above  all,  so  far  as  you  are  individually  concerned,  be  happy.  How 
much  that  means!" 

Some  time  after  this  he  referred  in  a  letter  to  a  subject  his 
correspondent  had  made  inquiry  about :  his  comparative  stand- 


62  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

ing  in  his  class,  and  whether  he  had  not  received  the  highest 
honors.  His  answer  was  that,  at  the  commencement  at  which 
he  was  graduated,  there  was  no  distribution  of  honors.  His 
recollection,  however,  was  that  his  average  standing,  in  the  cir 
culars  sent  home  at  the  close  of  every  term,  was  equal  to  the 
best,  and  that  in  one  he  had  a  special  mark  of  distinction  higher 
than  all.  He  requested  that,  if  the  old  record-book  could  be 
found,  it  should  be  examined  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
facts  of  the  case.  After  some  search,  the  book  was  found,  and  a 
transcript  of  the  record  of  the  graduating  class  of  1832  was 
sent  to  him.  By  this  it  appeared  that  his  comparative  standing 
was  better  than  he  had  supposed.  If  honors  had  been  then  dis 
tributed  according  to  the  present  rule  in  Southern  universities, 
he  would  have  received  the  first  honor. 

The  Rev.  Alonzo  Church,  in  whose  family  Mr.  Stephens 
boarded,  was  then  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  after  the  re 
tirement  of  Dr.  Waddell,  became  the  president  of  the  univer 
sity,  in  which  position  he  remained  until  his  resignation  in  1859. 
A  friendship  arose  between  him  and  young  Stephens,  with  whose 
character,  both  in  boyhood  and  manhood,  he  was  much  im 
pressed  ;  and  this  friendship  lasted  unbroken  until  the  death  of 
Dr.  Church.  In  this  excellent  man's  house  were  practised  all 
the  social  virtues  and  amenities  which  add  the  crowning  grace 
to  home.  A  poor  boy  could  not  have  entered  any  family  in 
which  there  were  better  opportunities  for  learning  those  small 
moralities  which  it  is  so  important  for  a  young  man  to  acquire. 
It  was  painful  for  young  Stephens  to  separate  from  this  family, 
of  which  he  had  been  a  member  for  so  long.  Perhaps  more 
painful  yet  to  bid  farewell  to  the  college  companions  with  whom 
for  the  first  time  he  had  enjoyed  congeniality  and  intimacy. 

Although,  like  most  youths  on  leaving  college,  he  fancied  the 
world  he  was  about  to  enter  to  be  better  than  it  really  is,  yet  he 
was  not  without  a  foreshadowing  of  trials  in  store.  And  when 
on  that  first  Monday  of  August,  1832,  his  companions  were  full 
of  hope  and  confidence,  he,  the  best  scholar,  the  first  debater,  in 
his  plain  dress,  with  his  frail  form  and  dark  brilliant  eyes  glow 
ing  from  a  pale  face  that  had  never  known  and  never  would 
know  the  hue  of  health,  went  upon  the  rostrum,  performed  his 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  63 

part  simply,  but  well,  and  no  one  knew  how  his  spirit  shrank 
from  the  battle  which  was  to  begin  on  the  morrow. 

In  his  journal  are  recorded  some  of  his  reflections  upon  this 
epoch  in  his  life.  As  this  journal  was  begun  not  very  long  after 
his  graduation,  it  may  be  as  well  to  give  in  this  connection  the 
introduction  with  which  he  opened  it.  It  begins  thus: 

"THIS  BOOK 

was  bought  this  day,  April  19th,  1834  (it  being  Saturday),  of  the  house 
of  Janes  &  Co.,  in  the  town  of  Crawfordville,  Georgia,  for  the  purpose  of 
registering  herein  some  of  the  changing  scenes  and  varying  events  of  each 
passing  day.  To  this  use  I  devote  it,  hoping  that  I  may  never  be  induced 
to  consider  the  purchase-money  ill-spent.  Should  this  hope,  however,  as 
is  unfortunately  too  often  the  case  in  human  anticipations,  prove  illusory, 
I  shall  have  a  twofold  consolation  wherefrom  to  draw  comfort.  In  the 
first  place  (if  the  recollection  of  former  pain  can  be  any  mitigation  to 
present),  the  knowledge  of  its  not  being  the  first  time  of  my  having  suf 
fered  from  similar  disappointments.  Then  a  lively  remembrance  of  having 
often  spent  much  larger  sums  in  much  less  worthy  causes. 

"  I  have  long  since  determined  in  my  mind  the  importance  of  preserving, 
by  a  committal  to  paper,  a  daily  memorandum  of  the  most  interesting  in 
cidents  and  occurrences  and  subjects  of  observation,  accompanied  with 
such  reflections  as  might  be  suggested  to  the  mind  under  the  action  of 
their  immediate  influence. 

"  A  plan  of  this  kind  I  once  adopted,  but  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose 
the  whole  fruit  of  rny  labors  in  this  line,  together  with  many  other  articles 
of  value,  in  a  trunk  which  was  either  misplaced  or  stolen  from  an  inn  in 
"NVarrenton  ;  and  as  I  do  not  feel  entirely  dispirited  by  this  discouragement, 
I  have  resolved  to  commence  a  similar  one,  profiting  as  much  as  possible 
in  its  general  management  by  former  experience,  as  I  think  such  a  course 
will  be  attended  by  advantages,  some  of  which  it  may  be  proper  here  to 
enumerate,  such  as  the  improvement  of  style  which  this  habitual  dictation 
on  familiar  and  commonplace  subjects  will  necessarily  effect.  The  recol 
lection  of  facts,  scenes,  and  events  it  will  more  indelibly  impress  upon  the 
memory ;  and  as  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  pleasures  which  constitute 
human  happiness  is  derived  from  leisurely  reviewing  the  past,  this  may 
be  a  depository  ever  at  hand  to  which  the  mind,  when  unengaged,  may 
revert,  and  draw  stores  of  pure  delights  and  unfeigned  enjoyments.  As 
the  eye  may  hereafter  be  glancing  over  these  pages,  tracing  the  history  of 
days  forgotten,  often  may  it  light  upon  some  little  remark  or  circumstance 
penned  with  the  views,  feelings,  and  prejudices  of  its  own  date,  and  awaken 
long  trains  of  slumbering  thought,  while  a  thousand  concurrent  recollec 
tions  of  the  same  period  spring  instantly  into  being,  when  the  whole  sub 
ject-matter  with  all  its  attendants  almost  quickens  into  lively  existence. 


64  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Thus  I  expect  to  fill  up  much  of  the  great  vacuum  of  idle  moments,  when 
time  hangs  heavily,  and  ennui  and  restlessness  feed  upon  the  soul,  by  an 
occasional  retrospection  of  these  pages.  From  them  too  I  hope  to  derive 
not  only  the  pleasures  of  calling  to  mind  and  living  over  the  scenes  of 
other  days,  but  also  to  draw,  should  a  kind  Providence  spare  me,  many 
lessons  for  the  future,  by  comparing  the  present  of  all  my  days  to  come 
with  similar  appearances  of  the  past." 

There  is  a  singular  proneness  in  melancholy  minds  to  keep 
a  daily  record  of  their  actions,  feelings,  and  reflections.  Un 
healthy  as  the  practice  is,  they  seem  drawn  to  it  by  some  neces 
sity,  or  some  craving  of  their  nature.  In  some  it  leads  to  morbid 
introspection  and  self-anatomy ;  in  others  it  feeds  an  equally 
morbid  egotism,  and  in  all  it  is  prejudicial  to  a  natural  healthful 
play  and  balance  of  the  faculties.  In  the  outset  of  his  career 
as  a  lawyer,  we  thus  find  Mr.  Stephens  following  the  usual  bent 
of  such  minds,  turning  inwards  and  feeding  his  inner  life  upon 
itself,  and,  like  Bellerophon,  eating  his  own  heart.  Without 
friends,  without  money,  without  health,  in  the  neighborhood  in 
which  he  had  been  born  and  reared,  and  where  for  him  the 
chance  was  least  of  being  honored  for  what  gifts  he  might  pos 
sess,  looking  sadly  back  upon  the  four  bright  years  he  had  passed, 
and  travelling  on  in  the  darkness  which  thickened  before  him, 
the  young  man  must  needs  get  for  himself  a  book,  by  means  of 
which,  for  lack  of  companions,  he  could  commune  with  his  past 
self.  While  we  cannot  say  that  this  journal  had  the  mischiev 
ous  results  that  often  follow  the  practice,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  deepened  for  a  while  the  sadness  of  a  nature  prone  to 
melancholy,  and  made  slower  of  healing  the  wounds  received  in 
the  struggle  he  had  to  pass  through.  Fortunately  for  him,  it 
was  not  continued  long.  His  fortitude,  courage,  and  assiduity 
after  a  while  brought  him  friends,  and  with  more  active  employ 
ment  and  brightening  prospects,  his  mind  sought  other  and 
healthier  occupation. 

Upon  the  introduction  above  quoted,  follows  a  short  account 
of  his  previous  life  down  to  the  time  of  his  graduation.  Then 
come  his  reflections  upon  leaving  college,  some  extracts  from 
which  we  subjoin  : 

"  All  students,  upon  leaving  the  place  to  which  they  become  attached 
while  acquiring  their  education,  and  bidding  a  last  farewell  to  many  dear 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  65 

companions  to  whom  they  feel  bound  by  the  tenderest  ties  of  friendship, 
increased  by  years  of  innocent  youthful  intercourse,  can  but  feel  bitter 
pangs  at  this  severance  of  affections.  .  .  .  Feeling  was  always  my  charac 
teristic  quality,  and  it  was  called  peculiarly  into  exercise  at  the  dissolution 
of  my  college  acquaintanceships,  not  only  on  account  of  the  purest  love 
and  the  warmest  affection  with  which  my  heart  glowed  toward  many  whom 
I  loved  as  brothers,  and  who  have  yet,  and  ever  will  have,  an  enduring 
existence  upon  the  tablet  of  my  memory,  but  on  account  of  intimacies  and 
connections  which  had  been  formed  and  strengthened  between  myself  and 
others,  which  I  felt  were  ill  suited  to  our  different  conditions  in  life.  In 
college  were  students  of  all  conditions;  the  wealthy,  however,  forming  the 
greater  number.  Wi.th  many  of  these  I  had  become  quite  intimate,  and 
though  I  knew  that  I  was  poor,  yet  of  my  poverty  I  then  seldom  thought. 
With  economy  I  had  enough  to  pay  my  annual  expenses  and  appear  in 
uniform  with  the  rest.  There  were  there  no  distinctions  but  of  merit. 
By  a  man's  talents  was  he  measured.  This  to  me  then  seemed  as  it  should 
be  ;  nor  do  I  now  dispute  the  principle  in  the  abstract,  but  it  was  injurious 
to  me  in  the  result.  For  from  the  stand  which  I  took  in  my  class  I  had 
acquired  a  considerable  reputation  in  the  opinion  of  all ;  I  had  extensive 
influence,  and  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  having  my  judgment  consulted  on 
all  occasions  of  importance,  and  thus  of  course  lost  sight  of  social  distinc 
tion.  I  did  not  sufficiently  consider  that  college-life  would  not  always  last; 
that  I  was  then  only  preparing  for  future  scenes  in  the  drama  of  life,  and 
that  when  the  period  should  arrive  for  me  to  take  my  stand  among  the 
citizens  of  the  land,  I  should  be  compelled  to  leave  the  libraries,  the  gar 
dens,  the  societies,  the  museum,  and  all  the  other  delightful  haunts  of 
learning,  and  become  dependent  on  my  own  exertions  for  success  in  a  sel 
fish  world,  while  those  whom  I  had  considered  by  far  my  inferiors  would 
be  revelling  in  their  fortunes  and  indulging  to  the  full  in  the  pleasures  of 
life. 

"  My  whole  thirst  was  for  books,  for  science,  and  for  learning.  Money 
I  had  no  further  care  or  thought  for  than  just  to  meet  my  little  necessary 
contingencies.  Upon  its  nature,  value,  and  importance  among  men  I  had 
bestowed  no  consideration,  nor  did  I  think  that  my  little  annuity  of  two 
hundred  and  five  dollars  would  soon  fail,  or  how  its  place  afterwards 
would  be  supplied.  Such  speculations  troubled  me  not,  bent  as  I  was 
upon  intellectual  research.  And  thus  I  lived,  breathing  the  true  spirit  of 
cheerfulness,  until  the  day  of  separation  came,  when  the  charm  was  dis 
solved,  the  spell  broken,  when  I  saw  those  over  whom  I  had  long  had  a 
nominal,  if  not  a  real  ascendency,  stepping  forth  into  the  luxuries  of  large 
patrimonies,  .  .  .  with  no  care  upon  the  mind  but  to  search  for  the 
newest  pleasures,  while  I  was,  by  necessity,  driven  from  my  studies,  com 
pelled  to  reverse  my  position  from  a  pupil  to  a  teacher,  and  not  only  be 
withdrawn  from  a  circle  of  cheerful  and  warm-hearted  friends  and  placed 
among  strangers,  but  be  doomed  to  the  dungeon-like  confinement  of  a 

5 


66  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

school-room,  -where  I  saw  nothing  and  heard  nothing  from  day  to  day  but 
the  same  round  of  intolerable  monotony.  My  feelings  sank,  my  hopes 
expired,  my  soul  withered.  Then,  indeed,  I  learned  the  use  and  importance 
of  money.  I  then  saw  that  it  was  money  that  regulates  human  society  and 
appoints  each  his  place ;  and  often,  when  worn  down  by  the  labors  of  the 
day,  I  lay  awake  thinking  of  my  situation  in  college  and  equality  there  with 
my  wealthy  associates,  I  have  with  tears  sent  forth  this  heart-felt  ejaculation : 

10  si  sit  mihi  pecunia,  quid  non  effecero  !' 

and  have  had  no  other  consolation  than  the  Stoic's  motto,  '  Cedendnm  est 
fato: 

"  My  first  residence  after  graduation  was  Madison,  Morgan  County,  and 
my  situation  was  that  of  usher  in  the  academy  of  that  place.  Here  I 
stayed  four  months,  and  a  more  miserable  four  months  I  never  spent, 
principally  owing  to  the  causes  I  have  just  stated." 

But  a  fuller  and  more  entertaining  account  of  these  four 
months  in  Madison  has  been  furnished  in  the  Finkle  corre 
spondence. 

On  November  4th,  1863,  "  Mr.  Giles"  addressed  a  long  letter 
to  his  friend.  Mr.  Stephens  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Atlanta,  in 
consequence  of  a  despatch  from  the  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  requesting  hini  to  meet  him  there.  Mr.  Davis  had  come 
down  from  Richmond  shortly  after  the  battle  of  Chickamauga 
in  order  to  visit  the  army  then  under  General  Bragg.  "  Mr. 
Finkle"  reports  a  long  conversation  which  occurred  on  the  cars, 
from  which  we  extract  a  portion. 

"We  got  to  Madison  about  ten  o'clock.  Here  the  cars  again  stopped 
for  some  time.  Boss  went  to  the  door  of  the  postal  car  (in  which  we  were 
travelling),  looked  out,  and  said  to  me,  'Come  here,  Peter.'  I  went.  'I 
want  to  show  you  the  place  where  I  spent  four  of  the  most  miserable 
months  of  my  life.  I  reached  here  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1832,  having 
left  Athens  the  day  after  I  graduated,  and  came  here  to  teach  school  as 
assistant  to  Mr.  Leander  A.  Lewis,  who  had  charge  of  the  academy ;  an 
arrangement  I  had  made  before  the  close  of  my  collegiate  term.  That  is 
the  old  academy  building ;  you  can  see  it  still  standing,  that  dark,  rusty, 
black,  unpainted  building  upon  the  hill.  Look  up  the  street  yonder, — that 
street  that  runs  directly  across  here  from  where  the  cars  stop  to  the  public 
square.  Do  you  see  that  house  there  to  the  left  of  the  street  with  a  little 
office-looking  house  just  this  side  of  it?  Well,  in  that  house  Lewis  and  I 
boarded,  and  that  little  office  was  our  bedroom.  We  boarded  with  Mr. 
Lucius  L.  Wittich,  who  had  formerly  practised  law,  and  the  room  we  occu- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  67 

pied  had  been  his  office.  He  was  an  intelligent  and  agreeable  man,  and 
had  an  amiable  wife.  Both  have  been  dead  for  many  years. 

"  '  Well,  in  that  little  office  I  spent  some  most  miserable  days ;  and  I 
seldom  pass  here  without  thinking  of  them.' 

"  '  Was  it  teaching,'  I  asked,  *  that  made  you  so  unhappy?' 

"  '  I  don't  know  that  it  was,'  said  Boss  :  *  I  don't  know  what  it  was,  any 
more  than  the  newly-born  babe  knows  what  makes  it  cry.  Perhaps  it  is 
the  roughness  of  the  softest  elements  of  the  sphere  of  its  new  existence 
fretting  the  nervous  net-work  of  its  tender  skin.  I,  like  a  new-born  babe, 
was  translated  to  a  new  sphere  of  action,  if  not  of  existence,  and  the 
external  nervous  texture  may  have  been  too  delicate ;  at  any  rate,  the 
whole  world  and  everything  I  came  into  contact  with  gave  me  pain.  I 
was  miserable,  like  the  child.  I  uttered  my  sufferings  in  cries  of  the  soul, 
if  not  of  the  body,  and  sometimes  the  last  also.  I  used  to  walk  this  road 
by  break  of  day,  leading  out  of  town  here, — the  Athens  road.  Mr.  Lewis 
was  a  late  sleeper,  and  I  would  walk  a  mile, — sometimes  two  miles, — and 
in  these  walks  I  poured  forth  my  griefs  to  myself,  and  often  wept.' 

"  '  I  was  not  particularly  dissatisfied  with  teaching  school.  But  the 
place  was  new;  the  people  all  strangers;  I  had  just  left  such  pleasant 
scenes.  The  spirit,  like  a  city  cut  off  from  its  supply  of  water,  was  dying 
of  thirst.  The  soul  seemed  to  wither  and  die  within  me.'  " 

Further  on  the  letter  continues : 

"  '  Moreover,  this  did  not  seem  to  be  my  mission.  Something  had  all 
the  time  pointed  to  other  duties  and  another  destiny.  I  was  where  I  was, 
and  what  I  was,  simply  for  the  want  of  money.  .  .  .  The  power  of 
money  I  felt  much  more  in  its  want,  I  doubt  not,  than  any  one  ever  did 
in  its  possession,  even  when  it  shields  crime,  browbeats  innocence,  op 
presses  the  weak,  covers  ignorance,  and  cloaks  a  multitude  of  iniquities. 
We  seldom  think  of  the  power  of  the  atmosphere  over  us,  of  its  essential 
vital  qualities.  But  let  it  be  removed  or  attenuated  ;  let  the  supply  be 
cut  off  or  diminished,  and  how  quick  its  all-powerful  energies  for  our 
behalf  will  be  brought  to  the  mind!  I  was,  as  it  were,  in  an  exhausted 
receiver,  and  felt  the  essential  need  of  money  to  vitalize  my  energies  and 
aspirations.  What  a  change  did  I  think  would  be  wrought  in  my  prospects, 
had  I  but  one  thousand  dollars,  or  even  five  hundred  !  And  this  amount 
I  knew  to  be  wasted  in  a  pleasure-party  on  a  tour  to  the  Springs,  and 
that,  too,  by  one  of  my  old  classmates,  one  who  was  always  kind  and 
friendly  to  me,  and  who  called  to  see  me  on  his  return,  and  mentioned  what 
his  jaunt  had  cost  him.  Little  did  he  know  my  feelings  at  the  relation. 
They  were  those  of  a  destitute  child,  almost  starving,  yet  too  proud  to  beg 
or  steal,  seeing  the  remainder  of  a  sumptuous  dinner  thrown  to  swine. 

'"This  is  only  part  of  what  made  me  wretched.  I  cannot  tell  all  the 
reasons  why  I  was  so,  because  I  do  not  know  them  myself.  Our  happi 
ness,  I  have  since  learned,  depends  much  more  upon  ourselves  than  upon 


68  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

the  external  world.  A  man  may  make  of  himself,  and  in  himself,  a 
heaven  or  hell.'  "... 

" '  Teaching,  as  I  have  said,  was  not  in  itself  distasteful  to  me,  except 
the  monotony  of  the  repetition.  On  the  contrary,  I  grew  deeply  interested 
in  it,  and  buried  myself  and  all  my  troubles  in  the  school-room.  On  my 
return  from  my  customary  early  walk,  I  breakfasted  with  Lewis,  and 
then  we  walked  together  to  the  academy,  generally  taking  a  rather  round 
about  way.  The  weather  wras  warm,  the  days  long ;  we  opened  school 
early  and  dismissed  late,  allowing  two  hours'  intermission  at  noon.  The 
hour  at  which  attendance  was  required  was  8  A.M..  and  at  5.30  P.M.  any 
might  go  who  wished ;  but  we  usually  began  much  earlier,  and  remained 
until  near  sunset.  Some  young  men  from  the  country,  who  seemed 
intent  on  study,  would  stay  late,  and  we  devoted  ourselves  to  them.  The 
school,  when  I  went  there,  had  more  than  fifty  scholars  of  both  sexes, 
which  were  divided  between  us  about  equally,  and  without  reference  to 
age  or  advancement.  Some  of  my  scholars  were  grown-up,  and  some 
quite  small.  Some  were  in  Latin  and  Greek,  preparing  for  the  Sophomore 
class,  half  advanced  in  college,  and  some  just  learning  the  alphabet ;  and 
it  was  the  same  way  in  Lewis's  department.  Each  of  us  had  his  own 
department,  under  his  exclusive  control. 

"  '  Lewis  was  a  good  scholar,  and  had  been  teaching  for  several  years. 
I  had  known  him  a  year  or  two  from  his  visits  to  Athens,  where  he  had 
graduated  in  1826.  He  was  a  North  Carolinian  by  birth,  a  kind-hearted 
man,  well  liked,  but  had  no  discipline  in  his  school.  There  were  at  that 
time  in  the  town  a  number  of  rude,  bad  boys,  sons  of  men  of  wealth,  who 
had  been  spoiled  by  indulgence  at  home  and  at  school.  I  discovered  the 
state  of  things  at  a  glance,  and  on  the  day  that  I  commenced — Monday — I 
announced  to  those  at  my  end  of  the  building  the  rules  that  were  to  be 
observed  there.  They  were  concise  and  systematic,  and  I  stated  that  they 
would  be  rigidly  enforced.  There  was  to  be  no  talking,  whispering,  or 
moving  about  during  study-hours.  The  little  fellows  might  go  out  when 
they  pleased,  but  must  make  no  noise.  Those  in  arithmetic  might  study 
out-of-doors,  if  they  wished  ;  but  none  of  the  rest  were  to  go  out  without 
permission.  There  were  only  four  of  the  little  fellows — four-year-olds — 
that  were  allowed  to  come  and  go  as  they  pleased.'  " 

The  letter  then  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  the  insubordi 
nation  of  one  or  two  of  the  larger  pupils,  who  had  determined 
to  test  the  nerve  and  determination  of  the  new,  boyish-looking 
teacher.  They  were  fully  grown,  muscular  young  men ;  but 
without  a  moment's  hesitation  the  rod  was  applied  with  severity 
until  they  yielded.  The  affair  created  considerable  stir.  One 
of  these  youths  was  the  nephew  of  a  leading  citizen,  and  Lewis 
expressed  apprehension  lest  the  school  should  be  injured. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  69 

This,  however,  was  not  the  case,  as  Mr.  Stephens  assured  him. 
The  popularity  of  the  school  was  increased ;  and  "  only  once 
after  that  time,"  Mr.  Stephens  writes,  "did  I  have  to  use  the 
rod  at  all,  and  then  not  severely.  Seldom  after  that  was  there 
even  necessity  for  reproof." 

"  'In  after-life  I  have  often  met  my  old  scholars.  David  A.  Vason,*  of 
Dougherty  County,  I  prepared  for  college ;  also  his  brother,  the  doctor, 
in  Alabama. 

"'  I  left  Madison  with  a  good  impression  of  the  people  toward  me,  who 
knew  not  how  miserable  I  was  while  I  was  there.  My  health  was  not 
good;  before  I  left  college  I  had  become  dyspeptic,  and  was  subject  to 
severe  nervous  headaches,  which  increased  greatly  in  severity  while  I  was 
at  Madison.  My  long  walks,  I  am  now  convinced,  were  injurious  to  me. 
Before  the  expiration  of  the  term  I  had,  through  my  old  classmate  and 
room-mate,  William  Le  Conte,  made  arrangements  to  teach  a  private  school 
for  his  father  the  next  year.  The  trustees  at  Madison  wished  to  retain 
me,  but  I  told  them  of  my  engagement,  and  we  parted  in  friendship  and 
with  good  feelings  on  both  sides.  I  shal^  never  forget  the  day  I  left  the 
town, — that  house,  that  office,  and  Lewis.  Nor  shall  I  forget  the  night 
after  this  parting.  My  brother,  Aaron  Grier,  came  for  me  in  a  buggy, 
and  we  drove  all  the  way  to  Crawfordville.  I  had  a  terrible  headache, — 
a  most  horrible  headache!'  " 

And  thus  ends  the  account  of  these  unhappy  four  months, 
during  which  both  his  head  and  heart  ached,  not  only  from  the 
causes  he  mentioned,  but  from  others,  far  deeper,  which  he  does 
not  care  to  set  down.  One  little  episode,  not  noted  here,  nor 
even  told  by  him  until  near  forty  years  after  its  occurrence,  we 
may  briefly  advert  to.  One  of  the  pupils  at  this  school  was  a 
young  girl,  lovely  both  in  person  and  character,  from  whom  the 
young  teacher  learned  more  than  is  to  be  found  in  books,  and 
whom  he  grew  to  love  with  a  depth  of  affection  all  the  greater  that 
it  was  condemned  to  hopelessness  and  silence.  The  poor  student, 
with  no  prospect  of  worldly  advancement,  the  invalid  who  looked 
forward  to  an  early  death,  must  not  think  of  marrying, — must  not 
speak  of  love.  And  he  never  spoke  of  it  to  her  nor  to  any, — 
never  until  a  generation  had  passed,  and  then  but  to  one  friend. 
So  he  leaves  the  place,  and  travels  all  night,  with  such  thoughts 
as  we  can  imagine,  and  "  a  most  horrible  headache !" 

*  Hon.  David  A.  Yason,  afterwards  Judge  of  S.  "W.  Circuit. 


CHAPTEE    VII. 

A  Private  Class — Mr.  Le  Conte — A  Liberal  Offer  declined — Goes  to  Craw- 
fordville  and  begins  to  study  for  the  Bar — Hard  Work — A  Damper — 
Journal — An  Anniversary — Begins  to  study  Politics — President  Jackson 
and  tbe  Bank — Despondency — First  Fee  offered  and  declined — Height, 
Weight,  and  Personal  Appearance. 

FROM  Madison  Mr.  Stephens  went  to  Liberty  County,  to 
fulfil  the  engagement  made  through  his  former  room-mate, 
William  Le  Conte.  The  agreement  was,  to  teach  the  children 
of  Dr.  Le  Conte  and  those  of  Mr.  Varnadoe,  one  of  the  neigh 
bors,  thirteen  pupils  in  all,  for  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars. 
Other  children  from  the  neighborhood,  whose  parents  were  too 
poor  to  pay,  were  taken  into  the  school,  and  taught  without 
payment  on  their  part,  or  any  increase  of  remuneration  to  the 
teacher.  His  time  here  was  far  more  pleasant  than  that  spent 
in  Madison.  As  the  sole  master  of  a  small  school,  the  pupils 
of  which  were  the  children  of  parents  who,  whatever  their  for 
tunes,  were  well-bred  and  used  to  all  the  courtesies  and  kind 
nesses  of  social  life, — a  characteristic  of  the  people  of  that 
county, — himself  a  welcome  guest  and  soon  an  intimate  in 
their  families,  he  was  free  from  the  annoyances  and  vexations 
unavoidable  with  a  large  school  involving  such  various  and 
unpleasant  elements  as  did  that  at  Madison.  The  society  of 
Dr.  Le  Conte,  especially,  was  not  only  congenial,  but  helpful  to 
him;  and  he  felt  that  his  intellectual  growth  was  taking  a  new 
start.  This  gentleman  was  a  man  of  far  more  than  common 
ability  and  culture.  Mr.  Stephens,  in  after-life,  used  to  refer 
to  him  with  the  warmest  remembrance,  and  frequently  spoke  of 
him  as  the  most  learned  and  intellectual  man  whom  he  had  ever 
met.  He  was  the  father  of  those  distinguished  men,  Professors 
John  and  Joseph  Le  Conte.* 

*  Now  of  the  University  of  California. 
70 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  71 

At  this  school  the  most  agreeable  relations  existed  between 
teacher,  pupils,  and  patrons.  So  satisfactory  were  his  services 
found,  that  an  offer  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars7  salary  was  made 
to  induce  Mr.  Stephens  to  remain  for  another  year ;  but  he  de 
clined.  His  reasons  for  so  doing  are  thus  referred  to  in  one  of 
his  letters  : 

"  My  health  had  failed.  A  sedentary  life  did  not  suit  me.  Moreover,  I 
had  saved  a  little  money, — enough  to  start  with.  Oh,  what  a  relief  it  would 
have  been  to  me,  what  pains  and  agonies  of  spirit  it  would  have  saved  me, 
if  I  could  but  have  had  in  hand  when  I  left  college  the  amount  I  had  at 
this  end  of  toil !  '  A  little  aid  at  the  right  time  is  worth  thousands  when 
it  is  not  needed.'  " 

"  Mr.  Giles"  was  very  anxious  to  obtain,  through  the  agency 
of  "  Mr.  Finkle,"  some  further  details  on  the  subject  of  these 
school -keeping  days.  But  about  the  time  of  his  writing,  Mr. 
Stephens  was  preparing  to  attend  the  meeting  of  Congress  at 
Richmond,  and  in  addition  to  this,  the  increasing  difficulties  of 
public  affairs  absorbed  all  his  attention.  His  health  grew  worse 
than  usual,  so  as  finally  to  prevent  his  journey  to  Richmond. 
Only  one  more  of  the  Finkle  letters  was  received,  which  was 
written  on  January  21st,  1864,  and  as  it  refers  entirely  to  cur 
rent  events,  it  will  be  reserved  for  introduction  in  its  proper 
place. 

At  the  opening  of  the  year  1834,  being  then  twenty-two 
years  old,  Mr.  Stephens  resolved  to  give  up  teaching  altogether, 
and  returned  to  the  up-country  to  begin  his  studies  for  the  bar. 
Mr.  Gray  A.  Chandler,  a  brother  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  Chandler, 
was  at  that  time  in  successful  practice  in  the  adjoining  county  of 
Warren,  and  proposed  to  Mr.  Stephens  to  read  law  in  his  office 
and  under  his  guidance,  without  charge.  But  trusting  to  find 
in  travel  some  improvement  of  his  health,  he  took  a  journey  on 
horseback  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  after  spending 
three  months  in  exercise  and  recreation  of  this  kind,  he  con 
cluded  to  return  to  his  own  neighborhood,  purchase  the  neces 
sary  text-books,  and  pursue  his  studies  alone. 

The  new  county  of  Taliaferro  had  but  a  few  years  before  been 
laid  off  from  parts  of  the  adjoining  counties  of  Wilkes,  Warren, 
Hancock,  Greene,  and  Oglethorpe.  The  county  seat  was  located 


72  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

within  two  miles  of  his  birthplace,  and  named  Crawfordville  in 
honor  of  the  distinguished  statesman,  William  H.  Crawford.  To 
this  little  town,  destined  never  to  advance  much  in  growth  after 
the  first  four  or  five  years,  this  restless  spirit  repaired,  with  the 
desire  to  make  it  his  permanent  home.  The  Rev.  Williamson 
Bird,  a  Methodist  minister,  and  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Stephens's 
step-mother,  was  then  the  owner  and  occupant  of  the  house  now 
Mr.  Stephens's  residence.  With  this  gentleman  he  resided,  ob 
tained  one  of  the  upper  rooms  of  the  court-house  for  his  office, 
and  entered  upon  his  new  work.  He  remembered  the  singularly' 
short  time  which  he  had  required  for  his  preparation  for  college, 
and  seeing  the  pressing  necessity  that  he  should  find  some  remu 
nerative  employment  as  soon  as  possible,  he  determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  obtain  admission  to  practice  at  the  next  succeeding 
term  of  the  court,  which  would  be  in  July.  Three  months  would 
seem  but  a  short  period  for  a  sickly  young  man,  without  a  teacher, 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  practice  of  the  law ;  but  he  had  nei 
ther  time  nor  money  to  spare,  so  he  resolved  to  see  what  could 
be  done. 

So  here  he  began  his  studies ;  spending  the  day  in  his  room 
at  the  court-house,  the  night  at  Mr.  Bird's,  and  recreating 
himself  now  and  then  by  an  evening  walk  to  a  neighbor's, 
or  going  home  with  the  children  of  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Sabrina 
Ray,  as  they  returned  from  school,  spending  the  night  at  her 
house,  and  walking  back  the  next  day.  He  had  no  familiar 
friend  with  whom  he  could  hold  converse  in  the  hours  of  re 
laxation,  when  the  overburdened  heart  and  brain  felt  such  sore 
need  of  one  to  whom  their  hopes,  fears,  and  griefs  might  be 
confided,  and  who  could  breathe  a  word  of  sympathy,  if  not  of 
encouragement.  For  such  a  friend  he  longed,  but  as  he  had 
none  such,  he  makes  his  journal  his  confidant, — the  journal  of 
which  we  spoke  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  the  introduction  of 
which  we  gave. 

About  a  dozen  pages  of  this  volume  are  devoted  to  a  concise 
account  of  his  previous  history,  coming  down  to  the  1st  of  May. 
The  next  entry  is  as  follows : 

"  May  2d. — The  morning  of  this  day  I  employed  profitably  on  the  10th, 
llth,  12th,  13th,  and  14th  chapters  of  the  4th  vol.  of  Blackstone.  In  the 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  73 

evening  I  did  nothing,  on  account  of  having  company,  but  read  newspapers 
(for  which,  by  the  way,  I  have  a  passionate  fondness),  and  conversed  on 
various  topics.  My  feelings  and  hopes  seein  ever  to  be  vibrating  and  va 
cillating  between  assurance  and  despondency.  My  soul  is  bent  upon  suc 
cess  in  my  profession,  and  when  indulging  in  brightest  anticipations,  the 
most  trivial  circumstance  is  frequently  sufficient  to  damp  my  whole  ardor 
and  drive  me  to  despair.  This  remark  is  founded  on  experience.  The 
other  day,  as  I  was  coining  from  my  boarding-house  in  a  cheerful,  brisk 
walk,  in  high  spirits,  I  was  instantly  laid  low  in  the  dust  by  hearing  the 
superintendent  of  a  shoe-shop  ask  one  of  his  workmen,  '  Who  is  that  little 
fellow  that  walks  so  fast  by  here  every  day  ?'  with  the  reply,  in  a  sarcastic 
tone,  '  Why,  that's  a  lawyer  /'  " 

We  may  laugh  at  this  now,  and  so  can  he,  but  it  was  a  bitter 
jest  to  him  then.  His  youthful  appearance  at  this  time  was 
surprising.  Mr.  Johnston,  who  was  then  a  child,  saw  him  for 
the  first  time  in  the  previous  year,  and  supposing  him  to  be  a  boy 
of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  was  astonished  to  learn  that  he  wras  an 
adult  man.  His  form  was  the  most  slight  and  slender  he  has 
ever  seen ;  his  thin  chestnut  hair  was  brushed  awray  from  a  white 
brow  and  bloodless  cheeks.  He  was  leaning  upon  an  umbrella. 
The  child  who  looked  at  him  felt  sorry  for  another  child,  as  he 
supposed,  who  had  suffered  from  long  and  painful  illness,  for  he 
bore  in  his  face  and  form  the  looks  and  \veary  wear  of  prolonged 
suffering.  The  shoemaker's  man  had  been  taking  his  observa 
tions  in  another  spirit.  Himself,  probably,  without  ambition, 
or  any  aspirations  beyond  his  bench  and  last,  he  did  not  approve 
of  people  aiming  to  rise  above  their  fellows  or  their  fortunes ; 
and  when  this  "  little  fellow,"  without  sign  or  prospect  of  beard, 
on  days  when  those  like  him  were  at  school  or  dropping  corn 
after  the  plough,  came  by  his  window,  walking  cheerfully  and 
briskly  to  his  office,  he  puts  what  sarcasm  he  can  into  words, 
and  sneers,  "Why,  that's  a  lawyer!"  It  reaches  the  "little  fel 
low's'7  ears  (though  probably  not  meant  to  do  so),  and  wounds  as 
rudeness,  coarseness,  and  scorn  always  wound  the  young  and  the 
sensitive  who  have  not  learned  to  allow  for  character  and  motive. 
He  has  no  strength  to  parry  this  awkward  thrust  of  the  shoe 
maker's  man.  Indeed,  the  man  may  judge  him  rightly,  and 
may  be  a  prophet  in  the  evidently  low  opinion  he  has  of  the 
young  lawyer's  chances  of  success.  His  voice  may  be  the  im- 


74  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

partial  verdict  of  society,  which  politeness  hitherto  has  kept 
from  reaching  his  ears.     It  is  not  merely  the  disapprobation  of 
a  journeyman  shoemaker  that  "  lays  him  low  in  the  dust." 
We  take  the  next  entry  in  the  journal : 

li  May  3d,  Saturday. — This  day  brother  came  to  see  me.  In  the  evening 
we  walked  down  to  Mr.  Brown's  school-house,  two  miles  distant,  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  a  debating  society.  Question  for  discussion  :  '  Which  en 
joys  the  more  happiness,  a  farmer  or  a  merchant?'  I  took  some  part  in 
the  debate.  Spent  the  night  with  Major  Guise.  During  the  night  there 
was  a  great  fall  of  rain.  However,  we  set  out  from  his  house  after  break 
fast  for  Crawfordville,  but  finding  the  creek  full,  we  had  to  wind  and  trapse 
about  through  the  wet  leaves  and  muddy  ground  before  finding  any  log 
upon  which  we  could  cross.  At  this  time  my  feelings  were  at  a  low  ebb. 
It  being  Sunday,  cloudy  and  rainy,  and  I  wandering  about  on  foot,  with 
an  old  umbrella,  trying  to  cross  a  creek!  How  ashamed  I  should  have 
felt  had  I  met  one  of  my  Athenian  friends !  What  conscious  remorse  I 
felt  at  my  lowered  situation  !  But  my  motto  is,  Cedendum  est  fato.  He 
that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased.  The  world  must  be  taken  as  it 
comes  and  made  the  best  of,  as  all  other  bad  bargains.  May  be  it  .  .  .  " 

The  following  page,  with  the  conclusion  of  this  sentence,  and 
the  next  page  after,  were  torn  out  by  the  author  before  handing 
over  the  journal  to  the  present  writer.  The  next  entry  is  this : 

11  May  7th. — This  is  the  eighth  anniversary  of  my  father's  death.  The 
day  never  returns  in  each  revolving  year  without  bringing  to  my  mind 
many  sad  reflections.  I  easily  read  the  scenes,  the  griefs,  the  woes  of 
which  I  keep  it  in  commemoration.  But  alas !  the  course  of  time  is 
onward.  And  though  at  each  return  of  the  7th  of  May  I  may  seem  as 
if  moving  in  a  circular  motion,  to  be  nearer  the  point  and  period  of  that 
memorable  event  than  at  other  seasons  of  the  year,  yet  this  is  only  a 
delusion  providentially  afforded  to  soothe  the  soul  with  the  pleasing  hope 
of  paying  an  annual  visit  to  the  shades  of  affliction  and  the  place  of  be 
reavement.  This  day  I  finished  the  review  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries. 
Spent  part  of  the  evening  with  Dr.  Mercer,  who  called  on  me.  We  ex 
amined  some  minerals  he  has.  I  was  upon  the  whole  well  pleased  with 
him.  I  shall  cultivate  his  acquaintance." 

This  acquaintance  was  marred  not  long  afterwards  by  a  mis 
understanding,  which  produced  at  last  a  serious  quarrel  with  Dr. 
Mercer  and  his  friends.  It  originated  from  a  subject  mentioned 
in  the  next  entry. 

"  May  8th. — .  .  .  Have  to-day  read  Jackson's  Protest  to  the  United  States 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  75 

Senate.*  Am  pleased  with  it  in  general,  but  think  he  was  not  particular 
enough  in  the  selection  of  words  and  the  use  of  terms.  I  do  not  think, 
from  reading  all  the  parts  together,  that  he  meant  what  some  detached 
sentences  would  legitimately  import.  His  supplementary  message  I  dis 
approve,  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  unnecessary  •  secondly,  as  an 
explanation  it  comes,  in  my  estimation,  far  short  of  effecting  anything. 
It  is  more  like  a  recantation  than  an  explanation ;  and  by  superficial  ob 
servers  and  by  partisan  editors  it  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  thus  pronounced. 
While  all  that  was  necessary  to  satisfy  the  most  wavering  was  an  explana 
tion  of  the  particular  sense  in  which  he  had  used  the  words  custody,  law, 
executive  department,  etc.,  together  with  some  other  words  and  sentences. 
For  niy  own  part,  I  feel  interested  for  General  Jackson  now.  I  see  the  most 
formidable,  unprecedented,  and  vile  attempts  made  to  oppose  his  measures, 
entangle  his  administration,  and,  if  possible,  to  fix  upon  him  infamy  and 
disgrace.  The  principles  of  his  Proclamation  of  December,  1832,  I  de 
cidedly  condemn.  But  it  is  human  to  err;  and  for  one  error  a  man  who 
has  always  stood  high  and  done  much  good  for  his  country  should  not  be 
abandoned.  For  where  we  shall  find  a  President  who  will  commit  only 
one  wrong,  we  shall  find  few  who  will  not  commit  more.  Concerning  the 
deposits  question,  I  think  the  President  acted  precipitately.  He  should 
have  awaited  the  session  of  Congress ;  but  as  he  chose  a  different  course, 
he  should  nevertheless  be  sustained,  since  I  am  convinced  the  course  he 
did  take  was  constitutional.  The  bank  is  a  dangerous  institution  :  Jackson 
has  it  now  by  the  neck,  and  if  he  is  let  alone  he  will  soon  choke  the  rep 
tile  to  death.  I  care  not  how  soon  it  is  done,  for  if  it  ever  escapes  nothing 
valuable  and  nothing  sacred  will  be  out  of  the  reach  of  its  venom." 

"  May  llth. — This  day  I  spent  in  writing  letters,  until  noon,  and  after 
wards  in  reading.  Drew  for  the  first  time  an  attachment  bond.  More 
business  seems  to  be  brewing  than  for  some  time  past.  Several  inquiries 
concerning  law-points  have  been  made  to-day ;  and  I  very  much  wish  I 
was  in  the  practice,  able  to  give  advice,  and  that  there  was  room  for  as 
much  as  I  could  give." 

The  entry  of  the  next  day  shows  his  fit  of  despondency 
returning. 

*  The  removal  of  the  public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
and  their  transfer  to  certain  State  banks  by  President  Jackson  was  a 
measure  which,  on  account  of  both  its  financial  and  political  bearings, 
created  great  excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  placed  the  President 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  Senate,  in  which  body  the  great  statesmen,  Cal- 
houn,  Clay,  and  Webster,  for  the  first  time  were  united  in  their  antagonism 
to  the  administration.  The  Senate  passed  a  resolution  of  censure  on  the 
President,  and  the  latter  replied  by  the  Protest  referred  to  in  the  text.  The 
resolution  of  censure  was  finally  expunged  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate 
by  order  of  that  body. 


76  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

li  May  12th. — Have  been  reading  to-day,  but  slowly.  Crawfordville  is 
a  dry  place.  I  do  not  feel  satisfied.  I  have  a  restlessness  of  spirit  and 
ambition  of  soul  which  are  urging  me  on,  and  I  feel  that  I  am  not  in  a 
situation  to  favor  this  inward  flame.  My  desires  do  not  stop  short  of  the 
highest  places  of  distinction.  And  yet  how  can  I  effect  my  purpose?  .  .  . 
Poor  and  without  friends, — no  prospect  of  increasing  my  means, — time 
passing  with  rapid  flight,  and  1  effecting  nothing  !  Day  is  succeeding  day, 
and  I  do  nothing  but  ponder  over  a  few  pages  of  my  law,  and  mix  with 
kind-hearted  but  uninformed  people,  who  know  very  little  themselves  and 
can  impart  little  or  nothing  to  others  !  Oh,  that  I  were  able  !  I  would  seek 
society  congenial  to  my  feelings ;  I  would  converse  with  those  who  could 
entertain  and  instruct..  Such  once  was  my  situation,  but  that  day  is  gone, 
and  its  remembrance  chokes  my  utterance  !" 

Our  young  student  on  this  12th  day  of  May  is  evidently  out 
of  sorts,  both  in  mind  and  body.  He  even  makes  a  disparag 
ing  allusion  to  Crawfordville,  as  harmless  a  little  village  as  may 
be  found.  He  wants  money  to  get  away  from  it,  and  thinks 
that  if  he  had  but  money  he  would  soon  be  on  his  way  to  more 
congenial  society.  We  shall  see  in  good  time  what  modifications 
these  opinions  of  his  underwent. 

"  May  13th. — Read  all  the  law  I  could  find  relative  to  the  case  of  J. 
Brooker,  who  has  absconded  and  left  many  debts  unsettled.  I  find  great 
difficulty  and  am  now  greatly  bewildered  with  perplexity.  I  wish  I  had 
somebody  always  at  my  elbow  to  solve  all  my  doubts  and  difficulties,  and 
answer  my  questions.  I  should  then  have  some  hopes  of  .final  success.  I 
was  consulted  the  other  day  on  a  legal  point,  for  the  first  time,  and,  most 
miserable  to  remember,  counselled  erroneously  1" 

The  entry  following  is  less  tragic : 

"  May  14th. — Nothing  particular.  A  belled  buzzard  passed  through  the 
neighborhood,  quite  to  the  astonishment  of  the  natives." 

"  May  15th. — Read  Chitty,  Ma.ddox,  Blackstone,  etc.  In  the  afternoon 
assisted  in  copying  some  attachments  vs.  John  Brooker  for  some  persons 
from  Washington,  but  the  whole  proceedings  seemed  to  me  an  inexplicable 
maze.  I  was  for  the  first  time  offered  pay  for  my  legal  services,  but  very 
gentlemanly  refused !" 

Much  as  he  wants  money  he  will  not  take  it  until  he  is  legally 
entitled  to  charge  for  his  services.  Yet  he  cannot  refrain  from 
a  little  touch  of  sarcasm  at  himself  for  not  yet  having  won  the 
right  to  charge  a  fee. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  77 

"  May  17th. — Brother  is  still  with  me.  Have  done  nothing  for  the  last 
two  days.  Had  an  introduction  to  a  man  to-day  who  addressed  me  famil 
iarly  as  'my  son.'  Such  has  often  happened  to  me.  Last  fall,  when  I 
was  in  Savannah,  I  was  asked  by  a  youngster-candidate  for  the  Freshman 
class  if  I  were  going  to  college,  and  I  was  more  amused  at  the  joke  than 
surprised  at  the  question,  considering  that  my  appearance  is  much  more 
youthful  than  that  of  most  young  men  of  twenty-one.  My  weight  is 
ninety-four  pounds,  my  height  sixty-seven  inches,  my  waist  twenty  inches 
in  circumference,  and  my  whole  appearance  that  of  a  youth  of  seventeen 
or  eighteen.  When  I  left  college,  two  years  ago,  my  net  weight  was 
seventy  pounds.  If  I  continue  in  a  proportionate  increase  I  shall  reach 
one  hundred  in  about  two  years  more." 

"  May  18th. — This  is  Sunday.  Last  night  I  and  brother  spent  at  Thomas 
Ray's.  This  morning  was  beautiful.  The  air  was  calm,  clear,  and  serene  ; 
the  sun  shone  warm  and  joyously.  Brother  and  myself  and  Thomas  ram 
bled  over  the  scenes  of  my  early  days,  visited  Father's  grave,  saw  all  the 
haunts  of  my  boyhood,  the  fields  in  which  I  have  labored,  the  trees  I  have 
planted,  the  rocks  I  have  piled,  the  hedges  in  which  I  have  reclined. 
Thought  much  of  the  past,  of  which  I  can  here  give  no  utterance." 

Thus  we  find  him  working  round  to  a  healthier  frame  of 
mind.  The  two  days'  visit  from  his  brother,  their  joint  visit  to 
their  cousin  Sabrina  Ray,  the  walk  in  that  sweet  morning  to  the 
grave,  the  memories  brought  back  by  all  those  familiar  scenes, 
have  brought  feelings  at  once  sad  and  consoling,  and  thoughts, 
not  altogether  painful,  but  to  which  he  will  not  give  utterance. 
And  so  we  find  him  passing  through  the  ordeal  through  which 
so  many  young  men  of  noble  feelings  and  high  aspirations  have 
to  pass  at  their  first  contact  with  the  stern  realities  of  life. 
This  it  is  which  tries  their  natures,  as  in  a  furnace,  and  proves 
the  metal  of  which  they  are  made.  Few  have  suffered  more  in 
this  trial  than  he ;  still  fewer  have  come  through  it  with  purity 
undefiled,  honor  untarnished,  and  principles  unshaken. 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

Journal — Youthful  Judgments — Forebodings — ^Esthetic  Criticisms — Opin 
ion  of  Railroads— Solitude — First  Plea — Self-censure — Ambition— A  Crit 
ical  Period — Out  of  the  Depths — Dr.  Foster  and  his  Prescription — Moves 
to  Uncle  Bird's — A  Shock  to  Modesty — A  Narrow  Escape — A  Fourth  of 
July  Speech — Adhesion  to  the  Doctrine  of  State  Eights — Eight  of  Seces 
sion — Admission  to  the  Bar. 

WE  still  continue  from  the  journal,  as  at  this  period  the 
record  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings  which  he  confides  to  its 
pages  has  more  interest  for  us  than  external  incident. 

11  May  19th. — Brother  left  me  this  morning.  I  am  quite  unwell.  In 
ferior  Court  sat ;  no  business.  One  case  only,  and  it  dismissed.  Starvation 
to  the  whole  race  of  lawyers !  Read  a  little  in  Chitty,  and  did  nothing  as 
usual." 

Rather  discouraging  to  the  young  student,  this.  Though  not 
affecting  him  directly,  his  prophetic  vision  descries  in  it  the  har 
binger  of  coming  woe, — of  a  time  when  man  shall  cease  to  plead 
or  be  irnpleaded  ;  when  crimes  and  torts  and  breaches  of  contract 
shall  be  things  of  the  past;  when  the  craft  of  the  lawyer  shall 
be  no  longer  in  demand,  and  he  himself  shall  perish  of  inani 
tion.  Let  him  take  courage ;  the  millennium  is  not  so  near. 

On  May  22d  he  goes  with  Dr.  Mercer  looking  for  minerals, 
and  returns  home  fatigued  and  worried,  with  self-reproach  for 
wasted  time.  The  day's  entry  closes  thus : 

"...  I  propose  reading  to-night  to  make  up  some  of  my  lost  time.  I 
am  sometimes  almost  fretted  with  myself  when  the  day  begins  to  close  in 
upon  me  and  I  find  I  have  done  nothing.  Such  are  my  feelings  now. 
Time  is  precious  :  I  know  it ;  and  yet  it  seems  impossible  for  me  to 
improve  it." 

The  next  day  we  find  his  mental  irritation  and  disgust  venting 
itself  on  external  things.  He  has  not  yet  learned  how  much  the 

world  without  us  takes  its  coloring  from  our  own  eye ;  and  how, 

78 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  79 

when  our  life  is  bitter  to  us,  we  discover  hatefulness  in  almost 
everything : 

"  May  23d. — I  do  detest  vulgarity.  Sometimes  I  almost  have  a  contempt 
for  the  whole  human  race, — the  whole  appearing  like  a  degenerate  herd, 
beneath  the  notice  of  a  rational,  intellectual  being.  Sensuality  is  the 
moving  principle  of  mankind,  and  the  most  brutish  are  the  most  hon 
ored.  I  long  for  a  less  polluted  atmosphere.  Of  all  things  to  me,  an 
obscene  fool  is  the  most  intolerable ;  yet  such  I  am  compelled  to  mix 
with  daily.  Will  I  never  find  one  whose  company  will  please  me?  No  ; 
of  this  I  despair.  I  have  once  been  so  fortunate,  but  never  expect  to  be 
again.  My  notion  of  merit  is  what  is  intellectual  in  its  nature.  I  honor 
and  long  to  be  associated  with  the  mind  that  soars  above  the  infirmities 
and  corruptions  of  human  nature  ;  that  is  far  out  of  the  region  of  passion 
and  prejudice  ;  that  lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being  in  the  pure  element 
of  Truth.  But  how  revolting,  how  sickening  to  my  feelings,  how  dis 
gusting,  how  killing  to  my  soul,  to  see  beings  bearing  the  majestic  form 
of  Man,  possessing  speech,  reason,  and  all  the  faculties  of  an  immortal 
mind,  hopping  and  skipping  all  night  to  an  old  screaking  fiddle  like 
drunken  apes,  or  lounging  about  a  grog-shop  from  morn  to  eve,  or  wallow 
ing,  swine-like,  in  the  mud  and  mire!  '0  judgment,  thou  art  fled  to 
brutish  beasts,  and  men  have  lost  their  reason  !'  But  my  feelings  are 
taking  me  too  far.  The  error  is  in  nature  ;  it  must  be  pitied,  not  blamed. 
Perhaps  I  may  appear  as  objectionable  and  as  odious  to  others  as  others 
to  me.  But  I  do  wonder  if  this  poor  world  is  thus  always  to  remain! 
If  low,  degraded,  selfish,  lascivious,  foolish,  besottedly  foolish  men  are 
always  to  figure  most  conspicuously  here  in  it,  or  if  there  is  any  ground 
on  which  to  rest  the  consolation  of  a  hope  for  better  things  to  come  ?  Sed 
satis  ml  melior." 

Perhaps  after  this  good  long  scold  he  feels  some  relief.  He 
has  been  slow  in  discovering  the  amount  of  vulgarity,  sensuality, 
and  folly  there  is  in  the  world,  and  the  discovery  shocks  him 
all  the  more,  coming,  as  it  does,  when  his  principles  are  formed 
but  his  judgment  still  immature,  and  before  he  has  learned  that 
wise  optimism  that  tries  to  find  the  soul  of  goodness  even  in 
things  evil.  To  him,  sitting  at  his  window  up  in  the  court 
house,  and  looking  down  upon  the  public  square,  the  faults  and 
follies  of  these  poor  Crawford villians  are  obvious  enough  ;  what 
good  may  be  in  them  he  does  not  see.  Shrinking,  like  a  woman, 
from  all  grossness,  his  offended  nature  protests  indignantly,  yet 
he  checks  himself,  remembering  that  others  may  be  passing 
rash  judgments  on  him. 


80  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

"May  %6t~h. — Did  nothing  to-day.  Played  chess  in  the  morning.  Got 
some  notes  to  collect  for  the  first  time ;  find  it  a  miserable  business  col 
lecting  money.  Have  a  headache  ;  but  withal  have  this  evening  been 
pleased  looking  at  the  constant  lightning  in  the  east.  I  like,  of  a  summer 
eve,  when  darkness  prevails,  to  get  to  my  window,  and  look  upon  the 
broad  bosom  of  a  cloud  lighted  up  with  successive  coruscations  of  elec 
tricity.  As  I  sit  and  behold  one  blaze  begin  and  run  from  one  extremity 
of  the  horizon  to  the  other,  and  then  disappear,  leaving  all  in  darkness,  to 
be  instantly  followed  by  another  on  the  same  arena,  my  thoughts  turn  to 
the  life  of  man  and  the  history  of  nations.  A  burning  genius  bursts  forth 
in  the  darkness  of  surrounding  ignorance,  and  shines  afar,  but  soon  ex 
pires  and  sinks  to  nought,  leaving  darkness  in  his  train.  One  nation,  for 
the  moment  of  a  few  short  years,  as  our  little  republic  is  doing  now,  may 
prosper  and  flourish  ;  but  it  is  like  the  flash  of  the  lightning,  sublime  in 
its  passage,  yet  hastening  to  its  end." 

How  much  of  this  gloomy  vaticination  is  a  mere  externalizing 
jof  his  personal  discontent,  and  how  much  is  a  deduction  from 
his  studies  of  the  political  history  of  the  country,  we  cannot  now 
see.  No  man  has  shown  more  clearly  than  Mr.  Stephens  in 
liis  later  writings  has  done  that  the  seeds  of  dissension  lay  in 
the  Union  from  its  very  formation,  and  that  with  the  increase 
of  population,  the  strengthening  of  parties,  the  enhancement  of 
the  prizes  at  stake,  and  the  irritation  of  reiterated  and  aggra 
vated  grievances,  a  catastrophe  was  sooner  or  later  inevitable, 
unless  it  had  pleased  Providence  to  give  the  people  more  wisdom 
and  the  statesmen  more  patriotism  than  commonly  fall  to  the 
lot  of  republics. 

In  the  next  entry  we  are  surprised  to  find  our  cloistered  and 
brooding  student  passing  a  judgment  upon  female  beauty  and 
female  costume. 

"  Nay  30th. —  .  .  .  Have  read  little  or  nothing,  spending  the  day  very 
unprofitably  in  chit-chat  on  various  subjects.  Examined  some  drawings 
representing  the  ancient  statues,  the  Apollo  Belvidere,  Venus  de'Medici, 
the  Gladiator,  Antinous,  etc.  With  the  Gladiator  and  Yenus  I  am  de 
lighted  5  the  muscular  energy  of  the  one,  and  the  luxurious  grace  of  the 
other,  stand  unrivalled  in  any  specimens  I  have  yet  seen  in  nature  or 
art.  I  think  it  a  pity,  but  some  of  our  fashionable  belles  should  take  a 
lesson  from  this  elegant  form  of  true  grace.  If  they  could,  I  am  persuaded 
that  they  would  change  their  present  disgusting  waspish  taste,  and  adapt 
their  conformation  to  the  lines  and  curves  of  natural  beauty." 

"June  %d. — It  appears  impossible  for  me  to  study.     I  supposed  when  I 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  81 

got  this  room  that  I  should  be  by  myself,  retired  from  all  noise  and 
all  company,  and  have  an  undisturbed  time  for  reading,  writing,  musing, 
or  doing  anything  else  my  inclination  might  lead  to  ;  but  to  my  great 
disappointment  and  mortification,  I  am  sometimes  interrupted  from  morn 
till  night,  and  do  nothing  the  livelong  day  but  jabber  with  each  transient 
interloper  who  may  be  disposed  to  give  me  a  call.  I  seem  to  be  consti 
tutionally  unfortunate  in  this  respect.  When  in  college  I  was  always 
pestered  more  with  company  and  interruptions  by  incomers  than  any  one 
-student  of  my  acquaintance.  Frequently  my  chums  have  left  the  room 
to  me  and  my  company,  as  they  would  tell  me  in  private,  and  sought 
retreat  in  some  adjoining  cloister  to  prepare  their  recitations,  while  I,  as 
Horace  on  his  walk  to  the  gardens  of  Cassar,  could  have  breathed  a  fervent 
prayer  to  Apollo  or  any  other  divinity  for  aid  in  obtaining  a  similar  release." 

The  next  clay's  entry  reads  strangely  enough  now,  when  the 
subject  therein  touched  upon  as*  something  new  and  strange  has 
become  familiar  to  every  one,  and  connected  with  the  interests 
of  every  one.  It  is  interesting  to  see  with  what  caution  Mr. 
Stephens  speaks  of  a  project  which  he  soon  afterwards  fully  in 
vestigated,  and  of  which  he  was  to  be  an  eloquent  champion. 
This  was  the  project  of  building  a  railway  from  Augusta  to 
some  point  in  the  interior  of  the  State.  An  intelligent  advocate 
of  the  scheme  was  Dr.  Thomas  Foster,  who  then  resided  in 
Crawford ville,  which  village,  by  the  way,  has  the  distinction  of 
being  the  place  where,  owing  to  the  influence  of  Dr.  Foster,  Hon. 
Mark  A.  Cooper,  and  others,  it  was  first  resolved  to  call  a  con 
vention  upon  the  subject.  This,  however,  was  some  time  after 
the  period  now  under  consideration. 

"  June  3d. — The  railroad  is  the  topic  of  the  day.  Some  think  it  will  be 
a  profitable  investment  of  capital ;  others  fear  to  run  the  risks  with  their 
own  pockets ;  while  all  seem  very  anxious  that  it  may  be  effected  by  some 
means  or  other.  For  my  own  part,  I  must  confess  that  my  opportunities 
of  gaining  information  on  the  subject  have  been  so  limited,  and  my  judg 
ment  on  such  matters  is  so  immature,  that  I  cannot  say  I  have  any  decided 
opinion  on  the  great  question  of  interest.  If,  however,  my  premises  are 
correct,  I  think  the  legitimate  conclusion  must  inevitably  follow  in  favor 
of  the  project.  Railroads,  it  is  true,  are  novel  things  in  the  history  of 
man  :  and  as  yet  so  little  experience  has  been  had  on  their  practicability 
as  leaves  the  whole  subject  somewhat  a  matter  of  hazard.  In  my  estima 
tion,  the  greatest  obstacle  is  the  greatness  of  the  enterprise.  The  stupen 
dous  thought  of  seeing  steam-engines  moving  over  our  hills  with  the  safe 
and  rapid  flight  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  produces  a  greater  effect  in  the 

6 


82  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

dissuasion  of  the  undertaking  than  any  discovered  defect  in  the  chain  of 
arguments  in  its  favor.  Speed  to  the  work.  Ripe  apples  to-day  for  the 
first." 

The  whole  subject  is  so  vast  and  so  novel  that  he  scarcely 
knows  what  to  think.  The  idea  of  driving  engines  by  steam 
over  hills,  at  the  dizzy  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  is  some 
thing  with  which  the  mind  finds  it  hard  to  grapple.  It  is  a 
relief  to  turn  from  these  strange  devices  of  impatient  man  to 
the  quiet  operations  of  nature,  that  never  hastes  and  never  rests, 
but  brings  forth  leaf,  flower,  and  fruit  in  due  season,  and  enables 
him  to  note  on  this  3d  of  June,  "  Ripe  apples  to-day  for  the 
first. " 

"June  6th. — I  do  wish  I  had  an  associate, — a  bosom  confidant, — an  equal 
in  every  degree,  neither  above  nor  below,  whose  tastes  and  views  were 
similar  to  my  own,  and  whose  business  and  pursuits  were  the  same  as 
mine.  With  such  an  one  I  could  live  and  learn  and  be  happy.  But  as  it 
is,  I  sit  in  my  room  from  morn  till  night,  nor  see  nor  converse  with  any 
body  of  like  tastes  with  myself.  I  try  to  read  and  advance  in  information, 
but  having  no  person  to  converse  with,  to  create  interest,  or  elicit  new 
thought  upon  the  subject-matter  of  my  studies,  I  find  that  I  am  not  only 
failing  to  gather  up  new  stores,  but  even  permitting  former  ones  to  es 
cape.  ...  I  have  this  day  read  in  the  Southern  Recorder  (the  only  paper 
I  take,  and  devoted  to  State-rights)  a  chapter  on  cats,  with  which  I  was 
pleased,  and  which  I  hope  long  to  remember." 

His  lonely  brooding  and  want  of  companionship  make  him 
fancy  his  gloom  deeper  than  it  really  is.  Having  exhausted  the 
political  articles  in  his  paper,  and  perhaps  confirmed  his  opinion 
of  the  impending  ruin  of  the  country,  a  bit  of  harmless  pleas 
antly,  even  about  cats,  cheers  him  up.  He  is  grateful  for  the 
relief,  and  hopes  long  to  remember  it.  But  the  next  day  he 
complains  again. 

"  June  7th. — I  have  done  nothing  to-day  but  saunter  about,  loll  on  the 
bed,  and  chat  foolishness.  When  will  my  days  of  folly  pass  and  I  be 
what  I  wish  to  be  ?  This  day  I  for  the  first  time  drew  a  plea  in  answer  to 
a  process,  etc.  It  was  for  a  Mr.  James  Brooker,  sued  in  the  Justice'  Court. 
I  was  under  considerable  embarrassment ;  however,  finally  succeeded ;  but 
at  this  time  have  a  most  contemptuous  opinion  of  myself.  I  believe  I  shall 
never  be  worth  anything,  and  the  thought  is  death  to  my  soul.  I  am  too 
boyish,  childish,  unmanful,  trifling,  simple  in  my  manners  and  address. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II .  STEPHENS.  33 

I  must  commence  anew.  Lethargy  is  my  fatal  fault.  I  am  like  the  kite  : 
I  soar  only  in  the  rage  of  the  gale.  In  the  calm  I  sink  into  inactivity.  I 
am  like  the  flint  which  emits  no  spark  unless  brought  into  contact  with 
something  almost  as  hard  as  itself.  I  was  made  to  figure  in  a  storm,  ex 
cited  by  continual  collisions.  Discussion  and  argument  are  my  delight ; 
and  a  place  of  life  and  business  therefore  is  my  proper  element.  Craw- 
fordville  is  too  dull.  I  long  to  be  where  I  shall  have  an  argument  daily." 
"  June  8th,  Sunday. — In  my  room  all  day.11 

Want  of  suitable  companionship,  and  this  continual  brooding 
over  his  isolation  and  his  helplessness,  are  enervating  him.  He 
doubts  himself.  Xot  long  ago  he  was  writing,  "  Quid  non  cffe- 
cero  f — now  he  "  believes  he  shall  never  be  worth  anything," 
and  the  languor  is  creeping  over  body  as  well  as  mind.  A  spell 
like  that  of  Vivien's  is  weaving  around  him,  and  while  to  others 
he  seems  free,  he  feels  himself  shut 

"Within  the  four  walls  of  a  hollow  tower 
From  which  is  no  escape  for  evermore." 

Better  had  he  gone  once  more  to  the  old  place  to-day,  and  re 
visited  the  scenes,  re-awakened  the  memories,  of  his  childhood. 

"  June  9th,  Monday. — I  to-day  feel  the  ragings  of  ambition  like  the  sud 
den  burst  of  the  long  smothered  flames  of  a  volcano.  My  soul  is  disquieted 
within  me,  and  there  is  an  aching,  aspiring  thirst  which  is  as  indescribable 
as  insatiable.  I  must  be  the  most  restless,  miserable,  ambitious  soul  that 
ever  lived.  I  can  liken  myself  to  nothing  more  appropriately  than  to  a 
being  thrown  into  vacant  space,  gasping  for  air,  finding  nothing  but  emp 
tiness,  but  denied  to  die.  These  are  my  intolerable  feelings." 

"  June  10th. — The  weather  continues  very  warm  ;  and  whether  it  be  the 
effect  of  external  circumstances,  or  but  one  among  other  constitutional  de 
fects,  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  do  have  too  contemptuous  an  opinion  of  this 
world  to  be  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  a  resident.  And  were  there  any 
safe  known  passage  to  another,  I  should  soon  be  making  preparation  for 
an  exit,  trusting  to  the  probability  of  its  being  a  better." 

It  was  a  fierce  ordeal  through  which  our  young  student  was 
passing  in  those  bright  summer  days.  Close  confinement  in  his 
chamber,  isolation,  friendlessness,  poverty ;  the  knowledge  that 
he  was  risking  all — not  merely  his  hopes  of  future  prosperity, 
but  even  his  daily  bread — upon  the  hazard  of  professional  suc 
cess  :  all  these  sicken  both  mind  and  body.  The  overstrained 
nerves  demand  rest,  and  he  then  bitterly  reproaches  himself  with 


84  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

having  wasted  a  precious,  irrecoverable  day;  the  dulled  brain 
refuses  to  follow  the  intricate  thread  of  legal  argument,  and  he 
calls  it  lethargy,  and  despairs  of  himself.  To  the  pages  of  his 
journal  he  confides  the  cravings  of  his  ambition,  and  his  anguish 
at  its  utter  hopelessness.  Once  he  felt  that,  had  he  but  a  chance, 
he  could  achieve  distinction  ;  now,  with  death  in  his  soul,  he 
declares  that  hope  a  delusion, — nay,  he  despises  himself  for 
having  cherished  it.  Few  men,  with  unburdened  consciences, 
have  sounded  lower  depths  of  wretchedness  than  this.  He 
breaks  forth  in  anger  against  a  world  that  seems  to  him  all  out 
of  joint ;  and  then,  with  bitter  self-denunciation,  admits  that 
the  fault,  the  incongruity,  the  incompatibility,  may  lie  at  his 
door  alone.  He  has  not  yet  learned  to  read,  even  most  imper 
fectly,  the  two  great  riddles, — the  world  and  his  own  heart.  Suf 
ferings  of  body  accompany  the  sufferings  of  mind  ;  and  to  nerves 
thus  tortured  into  over-sensitiveness  everything  gives  pain. 
Headaches,  the  black  fiend  dyspepsia,  torment  him  by  night  and 
by  day ;  the  hearing  of  ribaldry  and  blasphemy,  the  sight  of 
drunkenness  and  profligacy,  assail  a  spirit  cast  in  the  most  deli 
cate  mould ;  and  these  assaults  he  can  neither  repel  nor  escape. 
He  can  do  nothing  to  reform  men  that  look  upon  him  half- 
contemptuously  as  a  crotchety  boy;  he  can  do  nothing  to 
strengthen  a  body  that  has  been  frail  and  sickly  from  the  very 
birth.  He  was  in  greater  peril  in  these  days  than  even  he 
knew.  Men  of  natures  akin  to  his  have  been  brought  by  trials 
of  this  kind  to  madness,  or  been  relieved  by  merciful  death,  or 
sought  a  desperate  refuge  in  self-destruction.  Let  no  one  say  that 
the  position  of  a  poor,  friendless  student  is  no  such  uncommon 
one ;  that  his  straits  were  not  so  extreme  :  he  was  not  starving,  he 
was  not  in  rags,  he  was  not  an  outcast  from  men's  good  opinions, 
nor  from  society.  The  tragedy  is  not  in  the  circumstances,  but 
in  the  actor;  and  we  must  judge  of  his  sufferings  by  looking 
at  his  position  as  he  saw  it ;  not  as  it  looks  to  us  from  with 
out.  It  was  in  a  frame  of  mind  somewhat  like  his  that  Chat- 
terton,  weary  and  with  a  breaking  heart,  wandered  about  Lon 
don,  when  the  few  who  could  and  would  have  helped  him  were 
away.  The  boy-poet  of  Bristol  had  one  torment  that  was  spared 
our  friend, — the  torment  of  a  conscience,  not  at  rest ;  but  he 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H,  STEPHENS.  §5 

was  also  supported  by  a  belief  in  his  own  genius,  while  young 
Stephens,  as  we  have  seen,  had  lost  confidence  in  himself.  For 
tunate  was  it  for  the  latter  that  the  solitude  of  the  little  village, 
that  he  found  so  small  and  dull,  was  not  like  the  solitude  of  the 
vast  city. 

This  has  been  a  sad  and  gloomy  chapter  of  his  life;  but  to 
the  student  of  the  human  heart  it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting, 
containing  as  it  does  that  faithful  record,  meant  for  no  eye  but 
his  own,  of  the  inmost  thoughts  of  his  soul.  From  depth  to 
depth  he  has  descended,  until  he  has  reached  the  nadir.  One 
step  more  downward  would  have  been  the  end  of  all ;  but  that 
step  was  not  taken.  AVe  shall  see  him  again  in  grief  and  in 
gloom  of  spirit ;  but  never  again  shall  we  find  him  choosing  death 
rather  than  life,  and  meditating  whether  there  may  not  be  some 
safe  passage  from  this  world  to  another. 

"  June  12th. — Attended  Florence's  examination.     Was  highly  amused." 

Florence  was  a  schoolmaster,  and  an  acquaintance,  with  whom 
he  occasionally  has  had  an  "argument  on  grammar,"  and  who 
has,  once  at  least,  lent  him  an  "  old  blind  horse"  for  a  ride. 
Who  knows  but  the  amusement  he  felt  at  the  examination  of 
these  children  may  not  have  given  the  little  touch  that  saved 
him?  For  he  was  in  a  perilous  state.  No  one  but  he  who  has 
had  the  experience  can  know  how  the  thought  of  a  voluntary 
escape  from  the  wretchedness  of  life,  at  first  awful,  if  tampered 
with,  grows  subtly,  almost  irresistibly  seductive.  One  touch  of 
a  finger,  and  all  the  burden  is  thrown  off,  all  pain  eased,  all 
perils  escaped,  all  forebodings  frustrated,  all  enemies  baffled. 
Death  lays  aside  his  terrors,  and  changes  from  a  grisly  spectre 
to  an  angelic  form,  bearing  the  balm  of  forgetfulness  and  the 
keys  of  release. 

"June  15th,  Sunday. — Quarterly  meeting.  Pretty  good  sermon  by  Mr. 
Arnold.  Some  objectionable  points,  however.  What  these  were  I  cannot 
now  mention.  Perhaps  I  may  on  some  future  day  give  place  in  these 
pages  to  something  like  an  exposition  of  my  faith  ;  but  it  must  be  when  I 
have  more  time  than  now." 

That  exposition  never  found  a  place  in  "  these  pages,"  nor  in 
any  others.  The  views  which  a  youth  of  his  inexperience  would 


8(5  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

take  were  doubtless  too  undefined  and  too  wide  in  range  for  him 
to  find  time  to  express, — at  least  until  he  could  give  more  time 
to  the  task.  But  whatever  those  views  may  be,  it  seems  that 
they  have  not  yet  pointed  out  any  safe  road  to  another  world  for 
a  man  who  has  grown  tired  of  this.  Probably  he  does  not  feel 
so  tired  of  this  now.  At  all  events,  we  find  him  devising  means 
for  living  more  comfortably  in  it,  and,  for  one  thing,  trying  to 
borrow  a  horse. 

"June  17th. — Tried  this  morning  to  borrow  a  horse  to  go  to  Uncle 
Grier's  on  business  for  Thompson,  but  was  so  disappointed  as  to  fill  me 
with  mortification  and  a  due  sense  of  my  humble  dependence.  Nothing 
hurts  me  worse  than  to  ask  and  be  refused.  Therefore  I  had  rather  (and 
have  often  done  it)  walk  than  ask  for  a  horse.  I  finally  got  0'Leary;S4. 
but  could  not  return,  on  account  of  a  heavy  rain  in  the  evening.  I  recol 
lect  that  in  1826,  on  this  day,  we  had  a  good  rain,  after  a  considerable 
drought." 

u  June  20th. — Read  Blackstone  in  revieAv.  Had  a  visit  from  Dr.  Foster, 
and  promised  him  to  deliver  an  oration  on  the  Fourth  of  July." 

He  has  been  at  last  visited  by  a  physician,  and  a  good  one. 
This  good  Dr.  Foster  has  never  received  a  diploma  nor  entered 
the'  doors  of  a  medical  college,  but  he  is  renowned  for  miles 
around  for  curing  patients  and  for  making  money.  He  has 
been  observing  our  young  friend  for  some  time,  and  seeing  the 
treatment  he  needs,  volunteers  his  services.  No  visit  was  ever 
more  opportune,  no  diagnosis  more  correct,  no  plan  of  treatment 
more  judicious.  He  begins  by  prescribing  a  Fourth-of-July 
speech, — a  good  prescription. 

His  patient  began  on  the  speech  the  very  next  day ;  and,  what 
is  more,  he  moved  his  lodging  from  the  court-house  to  Uncle 
Bird's, — a  good  move,  possibly  a  suggestion  of  the  doctor's. 

"  June  25th. — AVent  to  a  party  at  Mr.  John  Rogers' s.  Intolerably  warm, 
but  time  spent  very  pleasantly.  For  the  first  time  witnessed  the  new 
dance," — the  waltz,  presumably,  then  of  recent  introduction, — "  which  dis 
gusted  me  much.  Oh,  the  follies  of  man,  and  how  foolish  are  some  of  his 
ways  !  Returned  in  the  evening,  with  a  narrow  escape  of  my  life.  My 
borrowed  horse,  a  large  and  spirited  animal,  seldom  used,  having  stood 
some  time  in  the  rain,  and  having  been  left  by  his  companions,  Upon  my 
starting  evinced  a  disposition  to  run,  and  I  soon  found  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  me  to  manage  him  or  hold  him  in.  Off  he  went  at  full 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IL  STEPHENS.  37 

speed,  passed  gigs,  carriages,  and  all  wheeled  vehicles.    My  umbrella  fell, 
then  my  hat.     Away  we  went,  Gilpin-like,  over  logs  and  Bullies,  hills  and 
valleys,  for  two  miles  before  I  could  arrest  him,  when  I  was  so  exhausted 
as  to  be  hardly  able  to  dismount.     During  the  whole  danger  I  felt  com 
posed,  and  determined  to  exert  myself  to  the  last  to  keep  the  saddle, 
although  I  was  conscious  of  my  perilous  situation,  and  thought  of  the  in-    j 
stability  of  human  affairs,  and  how  soon  I  might  be  hurried  from  the    \ 
scenes  of  mirth  in  which  I  had  just  been  into  eternity.     This  was  a  sol- 
emn  reflection ;  and  I  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  a  kind  Providence 
did  not  permit  this  danger  to  become  a  fatality." 

The  entries  of  several  succeeding  days  are  very  short  and 
almost  illegible,  on  account  of  the  soreness  produced  by  this  un 
common  exertion.  The  preparation  of  his  speech  was  trouble 
some.  He  wrote  and  then  destroyed  and  wrote  again,  finishing  it 
on  the  3d,  and  therefore  had  to  read  it.  In  the  entry  of  the  next 
day,  while  speaking  of  the  recurrence  of  the  celebrations,  he  says  : 

"  This  natural  enthusiasm  should  not  be  suppressed.  It  is  only  by  a 
frequent  recurrence  to  the  cost  of  liberty  that  it  can  be  truly  appreciated. 
When  the  people  become  remiss,  and  cease  to  watch  their  rights  with  a 
jealous  eye,  then  the  days  of  liberty  are  numbered,  for  its  price  is  eternal 
vigilance." 

The  manuscript  of  this  address  is  still  preserved.  Its  chief 
theme  is  the  importance  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  that  the 
rights  of  the  States  shall  be  jealously  and  firmly  maintained;  a 
doctrine  which  has  always  been  a  cardinal  one  with  him.  His 
friends  desired  to  have  this  speech  published,  but  this  was  not 
done  until  thirty  years  after.  In  1864,  in  answer  to  certain 
insinuations  that  his  opposition  to  the  Administration's  tenden 
cies  toward  centralization  was  not  founded  on  principle,  and  that 
his  advocacy  of  State-rights  was  new,  he  published  in  pamphlet 
form  this  early  declaration  of  his  political  faith. 

In  this,  his  first  political  speech,  Mr.  Stephens  distinctly  took 
the  ground  from  which  his  convictions  never  afterwards  wavered. 
While  denying  the  asserted  right  of  nullification, — that  is,  tne 
right  of  a  State  to  remain  in  the  Union  and  yet  disobey  the  Federal 
Taws, — he  insisted  upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  the  right 
oT  any  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  IF  the  compact  should  be  vio 
lated  by  others.  Though  in  1834,  as  in  1860,  he  considered  this 
step  a  deplorable  necessity  and  only  to  be  taken  as  a  last  resort. 


8^  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

After  showing  the  relations  of  the  States  under  the  old  Arti 
cles  of  Confederation,  he  says,  referring  to  the  Union  : 

"The  Government  has  not  even  changed  its  name.  Its  powers  were  en 
larged,  but  its  character  is  the  same ;  and  the  relations  between  the  States 
and  the  Government  have  been  multiplied,  but  the  nature  of  those  rela 
tions  is  unaltered.  The  new  Constitution  is  a  compact  between  the 
sovereign  States  separately,  as  the  old  Confederation  was ;  and  if  this  be 
so,  and  if  the  first  Article  of  the  Confederation  expressly  declares  that 
sovereignty  or  supremacy  is  retained  to  the  States, — denying  the  right  or 
power  of  Congress  to  coerce  or  compel  the  States,  the  parties  to  it,  to  obey 
its  edicts, — where  is  this  right  or  power  derived  under  the  present  Consti 
tution?  I  am  constrained  to  think  that  it  is  derived  nowhere,  and  that  it 
has  its  existence  only  in  the  breasts  of  the  parasites  of  power  who  wish  to 
overthrow  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

"...  That  to  some  may  appear  a  strange  doctrine  for  the  perpetuation 
of  the  Union  of  the  States  which  allows  one  part  to  withdraw  when  under  the 
feeling  of  oppression.  But  such  err  in  their  opinions  on  the  strength  of 
governments.  The  strength  of  all  governments,  and  particularly  republics, 
is  in  the  affections  of  the  people.  A  republic  is  a  government  of  opinion, — it 
wavers  and  vacillates  with  opinion, — the  popular  breath  alone  is  sufficient  to 
extinguish  its  existence.  Such  is  our  Government.  It  was  formed  by  each 
party  entering  it  for  interested  purposes:  for  greater  safety,  protection, 
and  tranquillity ;  and  so  long  as  these  ends  are  answered,  it  will  be  im 
pregnable  without  and  within.  Interest  and  self-preservation  are  the 
ruling  motives  of  human  action,  and  so  long  as  interest  shall  induce  the 
States  to  remain  united,  the  Union  will  have  the  support  and  affection  of 
the  people.  A  separation  need  not  be  feared.  ButCw  hen  ever  the  General 
Government  adopts  the  principle  that  it  is  the  supreme  power  of  the  land, 
that  the  States  are  subordinate, — mere  provinces, — that  it  can  compel  and 
enforce,  and  commences  to  dispense  its  favors  with  a  partial  hand,  to  tax 
and  oppress  a  few  States  to  the  interest  and  aggrandizement  of  the  many, 
or  otherwise  transcend  its  powers, — then  will  the  days  of  our  republic  be 
numberedL/For  it  is  false  philosophy  to  suppose  that  these  States  can  be 
kept  together  by  force.  Dangerous  elements  are  not  the  less  to  be  dreaded 
by  a  compression  of  the  sphere  of  their  action  ;  neither  are  the  energies 
of  a  people  by  an  infringement  of  their  rights.  Jit  is  contrary  to  all  ob 
servation  on  the  conduct  and  motives  of  men.  JBut  let  it  be  the  estab- 
|  lished  policy  of  the  Government  that  it  has  no  power  over  a  State  with- 
1  drawing  from  the  Union  when  in  her  deliberate  judgment  the  compact 
has  been  broken,  and  the  others  will  soon  cease,  or  rather  never  begin 
to  oppress ;  for  the  Union  should  be  an  advantage  to  all,  but  an  injury  to 
none." 

Altogether  a  rather  remarkable  speech  for  a  Fourth-of-July 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  11.  STEPHENS.  39 

oration,  which  is  usually  a  synonyme  for  windy  emptiness, 
"  spread-eagleism,"  and  sophomorical  rhetoric. 

The  entries  for  some  days  now  have  little  of  interest.  On 
July  21st  he  is  "  very  anxious  on  account  of  my  examination 
to-morrow,"  and  on  July  22d  he  "was  this  day  admitted  an 
attorney  at  law,  and  released  from  a  great  burden  of  anxiety." 

In  reference  to  this  examination  we  find  the  following  brief 
note  in  the  Finkle  correspondence : 

"  Toomhs  was  at  the  court  when  I  was  admitted  :  I  was  not  introduced 
to  him,  however.  The  next  week  I  went  over  to  Wilkes,  and  there  we 
became  personally  acquainted  ;  l>ut  how  I  do  not  recollect.  Our  acquaint 
ance  soon  grew  to  intimacy.  We  were  associated  in  some  cases  in  1835  ; 
in  1836  we  were  very  friendly,  and  by  this  time  always  occupied  the  same 
room  when  we  went  on  the  circuit.  In  1838  he  proposed  to  lend  me 
money  to  travel  for  my  health.  We  had  been  in  the  Legislature  together 
in  1837.  He  attended  to  nearly  all  the  business  that  my  brother  could  not 
do  while  I  was  gone.  Our  personal  relations  have  never  been  interrupted 
from  the  first  day  of  our  acquaintance." 

Thus  in  three  months,  despite  his  sufferings  of  mind  and 
body,  the  interruptions  of  loungers,  and  the  calls  of  the  clerk 
for  assistance,  he  accomplished,  untutored,  the  round  of  prepara 
tory  studies,  and  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  bar  of  the 
Northern  circuit.  Judge  William  H.  Crawford  was  then  upon 
the  bench.  Colonel  Joseph  Henry  Lurnpkin,  afterwards  chief 
justice  of  the  State,  was  the  leading  member  of  the  committee 
of  examination.  After  thoroughly  testing  the  proficiency  of 
the  candidate,  he  remarked  that  he  was  not  only  thoroughly 
satisfied,  but  that  he  had  never  witnessed  a  better  examination 
since  he  had  been  at  the  bar.  Judge  Crawford — the  least  flat 
tering,  if  not  the  most  plain-speaking  of  men,  as  much  distin 
guished  for  candor  and  directness  as  for  other  noble  qualities — 
replied  that  he  had  himself  never  known  a  better,  and  warmly 
expressed  his  gratification. 

And  now,  his  pupilage  having  passed,  and  a  load  of  anxiety 
having  been  lifted  from  his  mind;  Lumpkin,  Chandler,  Cone, 
Dawson,  Andrews,  and  others,  leaders  in  the  profession  that  he 
has  adopted,  having  taken  him  by  the  hand  and  called  him 
brother,  he  may  at  last  feel  that  he  is  a  man  among  men,  and 
that  the  veritable  business  of  life  has  begun. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

First  Case — "  Biding  the  Circuit" — First  Fee  taken — Hezekiah  Ellington — 
A  Desperate  Strait  and  a  Convincing  Argument — A  "  Revival"  and  the 
Scenes  there — Increase  of  Business — Buys  a  Horse — An  Exciting  Case — 
A  Great  Speech  and  its  Effects. 

THE  leading  lawyer  of  the  county  at  this  time  was  Mr. 
Swepston  C.  Jeffries.  This  gentleman  had  resolved  to  remove 
to  Columbus,  and  Mr.  Stephens  had  made  arrangements  to 
occupy  his  office  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  evening  after 
Mr.  Stephens's  admission  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Jeffries  proposed  to 
him  to  accompany  him  to  Columbus  and  become  his  partner. 
Among  other  inducements  he  urged  the  prospect  of  large  and 
profitable  business,  which  he  expected  would  yield  them  as 
much  as  five  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  he  was  willing  to 
guarantee  to  Mr.  Stephens  at  least  fifteen  hundred  as  his  share 
in  any  event.  Stephens  asked  what  Mr.  Jeffries  thought  he 
could  make  in  Crawford ville,  and  the  latter  pleasantly  replied 
that  he  would  guarantee  him.  one  hundred  dollars.  Content  with 
this  outlook,  he  declined  his  friend's  flattering  offer,  preferring  to 
cast  his  lot  among  the  scenes  and  friends  that  were  familiar  and 
dear  to  him. 

On  the  next  day  he  has  the  prospect  of  a  case,  and  wre  find 
the  following  entry  in  the  journal : 

"July  24th. — Was  this  day  engaged  for  the  first  time  in  my  professional 
line,  with  a  contingent  fee  of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars.  May 
a  superintendent  Providence  look  propitiously  upon  me !  The  little  bark  of 
my  fortunes  and  my  all  is  now  launched  upon  a  troubled  sea,  and  a  better 
helmsman  than  I  am  is  needed.  And  now,  in  the  beginning,  I  do  make 
a  fervent  prayer  that  He  who  made  me  and  all  things,  and  who  rules  all 
things,  and  who  has  heretofore  abundantly  blessed  and  favored  me,  and 
to  whom  I  wish  to  be  grateful  for  all  His  mercies,  may  continue  them 
toward  His  unworthy  servant ;  that  He  may,  though  unseen,  direct  me  in 
the  right  path  in  all  things,  and  in  all  my  intercourse  with  mankind :  that 
90 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  91 

He  may  make  me  unassuming  and  not  bold  and  self-confident;  that  He 
may  inspire  me  with  a  sound  mind  and  quick  apprehension,  and  that  He 
may  so  overrule  all  my  acts  and  all  my  thoughts  and  my  whole  course 
that  a  useful  success  may  attend  all  my  efforts ;  that  I  may  not  be  a  use 
less  blank  in  creation  and  an  injury  to  men  ;  but  that  I  may  be  of  benefit 
yet  to  my  fellow-beings,  that  His  name  may  be  glorified  in  my  existence, 
and  most  of  all  that,  at  least,  I  may  ever  be  filled  with  a  sense  of  depend 
ence  upon  His  arm  for  assistance  in  all  things." 

The  next  week  after  his  admission  the  court  sat  in  Wilkes. 
The  lawyer  must  at  least  make  a  show  of  riding  the  circuit. 
How  shall  he  manage  to  do  so  ?  The  animal  that  figured  in 
his  Gil  pin -ride  suggests  too  many  reflections  connected  with  the 
instability  of  human  affairs  and  the  precarious  tenure  of  human 
life.  He  could  walk  to  Washington,  but  that  would  not  be 
"riding  the  circuit."  After  due  reflection  he  concludes  to  walk 
to  his  uncle's,  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles,  carrying  his  saddle 
bags  on  his  shoulders,  and  there  borrow  a  horse.  Of  this  walk 
he  writes :  u  Starting  about  dusk,  a  long,  dreary,  lonely,  and 
dark  walk  I  had,  well  calculated  to  fill  me  with  proper  feelings 
of  my  humble  condition,  and  depress  my  already  low  spirits. 
However,  I  was  superior  to  circumstances,  and  with  more  fatigue 
than  mental  depression,  I  reached  my  destined  place  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night."  The  horse  obtained,  the  rest  of  the  journey 
was  easy;  and  it  .was  only  necessary  that  he  should  remove  the 
somewhat  too  suggestive  marks  and  stains  of  pedestrian  travel 
before  entering  Washington.  For  this  there  was  a  remedy. 
He  had  worn  on  the  journey  a  suit  of  coarse  strong  material 
called  "  everlasting."  Just  outside  the  town  he  sought  a  seques 
tered  spot,  and  exchanging  his  "  everlastings"  for  habiliments 
of  clean  white  cotton,  the  young  barrister  was  prepared  to  enter 
the  town,  a  cavalier  without  fear  and  without  reproach  on  the 
score  of  his  personal  appearance.  But  a  single  day  at  court  was 
all  that  the  state  of  his  purse  or  his  wardrobe  would  allow;  so 
having  gone  up  on  Tuesday,  he  returns  on  Wednesday,  making 
the  whole  journey  home  on  horseback,  calling  at  his  Uncle 
Grier's  to  take  "  Jack  behind  him  to  Crawfordville  to  carry  the 
horse  back." 

Shortly  after  this  he  goes  in  company  with  several  gentlemen 
to  be  present  at  the  Commencement  at  Athens.  He  does  not 


92  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

tell  us  of  the  feelings  inspired  by  thus  revisiting  the  place  where 
he  had  spent  so  many  happy  years.  The  lapse  of  time,  and 
still  more,  the  step  that  he  has  now  taken  into  that  active  life 
for  which  those  years  were  but  the  preparation,  probably  have 
quenched  his  old  longings  for  its  scholastic  quiet  and  calm  re 
currence  of  studious  hours.  He  only  speaks  of  having  spent 
his  time  there  "very  pleasantly,  considering  the  great  crowd;" 
then  returns  home,  and  in  a  few  days  passes  another  epoch  in  his 
life, — he  receives  his  first  fee.  He  thus  speaks — with  less  em 
phasis  than  we  should  have  expected — of  this  event . 

11  On  Monday,  August  llth,  got  a  fee  of  twenty-five  dollars,  the  first  in 
hand  yet  received,  and  that  was  only  a  note  from  Mr.  II.  Ellington. 
Tuesday,  regulated  Mr.  E.'s  papers  ;  Wednesday,  ditto  ;  Thursday,  ditto." 

This  old  Mr.  Hezekiah  Ellington,  the  first  to  pay,  or  at  least 
to  give  a  written  promise  to  pay,  a  fee  to  the  young  lawyer,  was 
rather  a  character  in  his  neighborhood.  He  had  some  property, 
and  a  small  store  in  which  he  kept  cigars,  some  little  groceries, 
and  liquors.  He  loved  to  drive  a  hard  bargain  ;  yet  once  in  his 
life  he  had  been  known  to  offer  liberal — indeed  munificent — pay 
ment  for  a  very  small  service.  As  the  circumstances  were  related 
by  Mr.  Stephens,  we  think  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  relate 
them  here. 

The  old  gentleman,  several  years  before,  on  his  plantation, 
was  brought  very  low  with  malarious  fever,  and  his  physician 
and  family  had  made  up  their  minds  that,  notwithstanding  his 
extreme  reluctance  to  depart  from  this  life, — a  reluctance  height 
ened  no  doubt  by  his  want  of  preparation  for  a  better, — he 
would  be  compelled  to  go.  The  system  of  therapeutics  in 
vogue  at  that  time  and  in  that  section  included  immense  quan 
tities  of  calomel,  and  rigorously  excluded  cold  water.  Mr. 
Ellington  lingered  and  lingered,  and  went  without  water  so 
long  and  to  such  an  extent  that  it  seemed  to  him  he  might  as 
well  die  of  the  disease  as  of  the  intolerable  thirst  that  tormented 
him.  Those  who  had  him  in  charge  took  a  different  view,  and 
seemed  to  think  that  if  he  must  die  it  would  be  some  consola 
tion  to  the  afflicted  survivors  that  the  disease  had  been  first 
overcome.  So,  despite  his  supplications,  water  was  persistently 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  93 

refused  for  days  and  days.  And  still  he  lingered,  despite  the 
disease  and  the  doctors,  and  seemed  to  take  an  unconscionable 
amount  of  killing.  At  last  one  night,  when  his  physicians, 
deeming  his  case  hopeless,  had  taken  their  departure,  informing 
his  family  that  he  could  hardly  live  till  morning,  and  the  latter, 
worn  down  by  watching,  were  compelled  to  take  a  little  rest,  he 
was  left  to  the  care  of  his  constant  and  faithful  servant,  Shad- 
rach,  with  strict  and  solemn  charge  to  notify  them  if  any  change 
took  place  in  his  master's  condition,  and,  above  all,  under  no 
circumstances  to  give  him  cold  water. 

When  the  rest  were  all  asleep,  Mr.  Ellington,  always  astute 
and  adroit  in  gaining  his  ends,  and  whose  faculties  at  present 
were  highly  stimulated  by  his  extreme  necessity,  called  out  to 
his  attendant  in  a  feeble  voice,  which  he  strove  to  make  as 
natural  and  unsuggestive  as  possible, — 

"Shadrach,  go  to  the  spring  and  fetch  me  a  pitcher  of  water 
from  the  bottom." 

Shadrach  expostulated,  pleading  the  orders  of  the  doctor  and 
his  mistress. 

"  You  Shadrach,  you  had  better  do  what  I  tell  you,  sir." 

Shadrach  still  held  by  his  orders. 

"Shadrach,  if  you  don't  bring  me  the  water,  when  I  get  well 
I'll  give  you  the  .worst  whipping  you  ever  had  in  your  life !" 

Shadrach  either  thought  that  if  his  master  got  well  he  would 
cherish  no  rancor  toward  the  faithful  servant,  whose  constancy 
had  saved  him,  or,  more  likely,  that  the  prospect  of  recovery 
was  far  too  remote  to  justify  any  serious  apprehension  for  his 
present  disobedience;  at  all  events,  he  held  firm.  The  sick  man 
finding  this  mode  of  attack  ineffectual,  paused  awhile,  and  then 
said,  in  the  most  persuasive  accents  he  could  employ, — 

"  Shadrach,  my  boy,  you  are  a  good  nigger,  Shadrach.  If 
you'll  go  now  and  fetch  old  master  a  pitcher  of  nice  cool  water, 
I'll  set  you  free  and  give  you  Five  Hund-red  Dollars!"  And 
he  dragged  the  syllables  slowly  and  heavily  from  his  dry  jaws, 
as  if  to  make  the  sum  appear  immeasurably  vast. 

But  Shadrach  was  proof  against  even  this  temptation.  He 
only  admitted  its  force  by  arguing  the  case,  urging  that  how 
could  he  stand  it,  and  what  good  would  his  freedom  and  five 


94  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

hundred  dollars  do  him  if  he  should  do  a  thing  that  would  kill 
his  old  master  ? 

The  old  gentleman  groaned  and  moaned.  At  last  he  be 
thought  him  of  one  final  stratagem.  He  raised  his  head  as  well 
as  he  could,  turned  his  haggard  face  full  upon  Shadrach,  and 
glaring  at  him  from  his  hollow  bloodshot  eyes,  said, — 

"  Shadrach,  I  am  going  to  die,  and  it's  because  I  can't  get  any 
water.  If  you  don't  go  and  bring  me  a  pitcher  of  water,  after 
I'm  dead  I'll  come  back  and  HAUNT  you  !  I'll  HAUXT  you  as 
long  as  you  live  !" 

"  Oh  Lordy  !  Master  !  You  shall  hab  de  water !"  cried  Shad- 
rach  ;  and  he  rushed  out  to  the  spring  and  brought  it.  The 
old  man  drank  and  drank, — the  pitcherful  and  more.  The 
next  morning  he  was  decidedly  better,  and  to  the  astonishment 
of  all  soon  got  well. 

Tli is  was  the  old  gentleman  who  was  our  young  lawyer's 
first  client,  at  least  the  first  whose  business  occupied  him,  and 
the  first  to  give  him  a  promise  to  pay  for  services  rendered. 
His  accounts  were  evidently  in  a  bad  way,  as  his  attorney  spends 
three  days  in  preliminary  regulating,  and  how  much  more  in 
collecting  we  cannot  tell.  However,  he  will  get  twenty-five 
dollars  for  it  all,  and  that  will  support  him  for  four  months. 

The  entries  in  the  journal  now  grow  more  irregular.  The 
Ellington  papers  have  given  him  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  and 
take  up  much  time.  We  find  a  note  of  his  attendance  at  a 
religious  meeting  at  the  Baptist  church,  where,  from  the  circum 
stances,  there  would  seem  to  have  been  what  is  sometimes  termed 
a  "revival." 

"  During  the  night  services  I  witnessed  a  scene,  which  for  villainy  of 
heart  and  deep  depravity  of  human  nature  displayed,  stands  equal  to  any, 
if  not  unparalleled,  in  my  personal  experience.  And  I  have  either  been  so 
unfortunate  in  my  acquaintance,  or  so  uncharitable  in  my  deductions,  as 
long  since  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  dwells  but  little  good  in 
the  human  heart.  The  house  was  crowded,  and  there  was  considerable 
excitement  among  the  people  ;  sbme  exhorting,  some  praying,  not  a  few 
crying  aloud  for  mercy,  with  a  few  spectators  looking  on  with  due  solemn 
ity.  Among  these  last  I  must  rank  myself." 

To    be    less   circumstantial    than    our    diarist:    Amono:    the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  95 

"mourners/'  as  they  were  called,  at  the  altar  was  a  man  who 
had  a  handsome  young  wife.  While  he  was  engaged  in  re 
ligious  exercises,  his  wife  was  sitting  on  one  of  the  rear  seats, 
and  a  wild  young  man  was  making  violent  love  to  her.  "  I 
need  not  tell,"  he  says,  in  conclusion,  "how  the  furies  seemed  to 
urge  him  on,  or  how  female  weakness  showed  itself.  Alas  the 
world !" 

Very  deplorable,  undoubtedly;  but  perhaps  not  altogether 
"  unparalleled"  to  those  who  have  studied  nervous  pathology. 

In  the  same  entry  he  thus  refers  to  his  first  cash  fee : 

"On  Monday,  the  1st  inst.,  made  my  first  address  to  a  court.  It  was 
the  Court  of  Ordinary  of  this  county.  I  spoke,  for  James  Farmer,  and 
received  two  dollars  in  silver."  "  These  four  half-dollars,"  he  afterwards 
said,  "I  kept  a  long  time.  I  ought  to  have  charged  more  for  this  and 
for  the  job  of  the  Ellington  papers  ;  but  I  did  not  know  the  value  of  my 
services." 

On  September  8th  he  notes  that  a  young  gentleman,  a  Mr. 
Burch,  has  begun  the  study  of  law  with  him.  "How  the  thing 
will  ultimate  I  cannot  tell,  but  hope  for  the  best." 

The  thing  "ultimated"  very  satisfactorily.  Robert  S.  Burch, 
then  and  always  one  of  the  most  upright  of  men,  became  one 
of  the  soundest  lawyers  at  the  Georgia  bar,  and  afterwards  Mr. 
Stephens's  partner. 

And  now  the  time  has  come  when  Mr.  Stephens  thinks  he 
must  have  a  horse  of  his  own.  Besides  the  Ellington  papers, 
he  has  another  set  to  adjust,  and  these  require  more  locomotion 
than  he  can  perform  on  foot.  With  caution  and  mauy  mis 
givings  he  sets  about  this  momentous  purchase. 

u  September  10th. — This  day  I  was  employed  by  Mr.  Ililsman  with  the 
conditional  fee  of  twenty  dollars.  But  of  all  my  business,  the  most  im 
portant  was  the  purchase  of  a  horse.  What  will  be  the  result  of  my  first 
trade  I  can  not  tell." 

He  made  a  mistake  in  setting  down  the  purchase  of  the  horse 
as  the  most  important  business  of  that  day.  The  visit  of  James 
Hilsman  was  much  more  important,  as  it.  proved.  The  matter 
at  issue  was  this  : 

Uriah  Battle,  a  son  of  Isaac  Battle,  who  lived  near  Powelton, 
but  upon  the  Taliaferro  side  of  the  creek,  had  married  Amanda 


96  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Askew,  of  Hancock.  To  this  marriage  a  daughter  was  born,  and 
shortly  afterwards  the  husband  died,  leaving  a  young  widow  and 
infant  child.  The  elder  Battle  afterwards  took  out  letters  of 
guardianship  of  the  person  and  property  of  the  child.  Some 
time  after  this  the  widow  married  James  Hilsman,  a  man  of 
intemperate  habits,  and  highly  objectionable  to  Mr.  Battle,  who 
claimed  possession  of  the  child  by  virtue  of  the  letters  of  guar 
dianship.  The  widow  would  not  give  it  up  ;  so  the  grandfather 
employed  a  man  to  get  possession  of  the  child  by  stratagem. 
The  man  called  at  the  house,  talked  with  the  child  and  petted  it, 
and  at  last,  taking  it  in  his  arms,  hurried  off  at  full  speed,  pur 
sued  by  the  shrieking  mother,  and  delivered  it  to  the  custody  of 
the  grandfather.  It  wa*  then  determined  to  appeal  to  the  law, 
and  the  business  referred  to  above  was  the  employment  of  Mr. 
Stephens  to  take  a  course  to  secure  to  the  mother  the  restoration 
and  custody  of  her  child.  He  therefore  commenced  proceedings 
in  the  Court  of  Ordinary,  by  taking  a  rule  nisi,  requiring  Mr. 
Battle  to  show  cause  at  the  next  term  of  court  why  his  letters  of* 
guardianship  as  to  the  person  of  the  child  should  not  be  revoked, 
on  grounds  set  forth  in  the  rule. 

This  case  excited  an  astonishing  amount  of  interest  in  both 
Taliaferro  and  Hancock  Counties.  The  Battles  were  numerous 
and  influential,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  community,  who  knew 
the  facts  and  circumstances,  sympathized  with  them.  On  the  clay 
of  trial,  at  the  next  term  of  court,  men,  women,  and  children 
assembled,  some  even  from  Greene,  Warren,  and  Wilkes  Coun 
ties.  The  young  lawyer  had  thoroughly  prepared  himself  upon 
all  the  nice  and  intricate  legal  questions  on  which  he  knew  the 
case  would  turn.  To  familiarize  himself  with  the  evidence,  and 
to  try  the  various  modes  of  presentation,  he  argued  the  case  over 
and  over,  in  divers  forms  of  argumentation,  and  in  free  and 
passionate  declamation  in  the  solitude  of  a  lonely  hill-side. 

The  day  and  hour  came.  Court-house  and  court-yard  were 
filled  with  hearers.  Nine-tenths  of  them,  though  they  knew 
Jeffries,  the  counsel  for  the  Battles,  well,  had  never  seen  Ste 
phens.  When  he  arose,  trembling  and  pale,  there  was  a  deep 
silence.  After  a  brief  exordium,  he  warmed  with  his  subject, 
and  addressing  himself  to  the  feelings  of  the  court  (consisting 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  97 

of  five  judges),  burst  into  a  strain  of  passionate  eloquence  that 
none  of  those  present,  save  perhaps  Jeffries  and  the  Battles, 
could  withstand.  The  picture  he  drew  of  the  bereft  mother  was"^ 
one  which  made  every  one  forget  that  she  had  married  Mr.  / 
James  Hilsman,  and  was  not  now  a  poor  widow  robbed  by  death 
of  the  husband  of  her  youth,  and  of  the  only  pledge  of  their 
love  by  an  enemy  yet  more  cruel.  In  pleading  for  her  child  his 
eyes  glittered  and  his  voice  quivered  with  the  passion  of  a  score 
of  mothers.  He  planted  himself  upon  the  great  law  of  nature 
that  overrides  all  human  statutes,  or  upon  which  all  human 
statutes  must  rest.  In  vain  had  abundant  testimony  been  ad 
vanced  from  the  old  burghers  of  Powelton  that  the  child  would 
be  better  cared  for  by  the  grandfather  than  by  the  mother  in 
her  new  relation.  All  this  was  consumed  in  the  fire  of  that 
eloquence,  pleading  for  the  sacred  right  of  maternity.  Men, 
women,  and  children  wept ;  many  sobbed  aloud.  The  five 
judges  tried  to  preserve  the  balance  of  their  official  dignity,  but 
they  could  not  resist  the  contagious  emotion,  and  tears  were  seen 
rolling  down  their  cheeks,  and  when  the  argument  was  finished, 
their  spokesman,  with  faltering  voice,  pronounced  judgment  in 
favor  of  the  mother. 

The  Battles  gave  it  up ;  and  the  next  day,  at  Powelton,  Dr. 
Cullen  Battle,  a  cousin  of  the  grandfather,  said,  laughingly, 
"  When  that  little  fellow  began  to  argue  that  even  among  the 
beasts  of  the  forest  the  mother  was,  by  the  great  law  of  nature, 
the  keeper  of  her  offspring,  and  would  fight  even  to  the  death  for 
their  custody,  and  all  the  judges  fell  to  crying,  I  knew  that 
Isaac  would  have  to  give  up  Martha  Ann  !"  No  speech  of  any 
young  lawyer  ever  added  more  to  his  reputation  than  did  this 
of  Mr.  Stephens.  Indeed,  it  created  his  reputation.  He  had 
hitherto  been  regarded  by  the  multitude  with  indifference,  and 
by  a  few,  who  had  been  the  friends  of  his  father,  with  compas 
sion.  But  to-day,  in  the  presence  of  all  this  multitude  he  had 
shown  himself  not  only  more  than  the  peer  of  any  lawyer  in  the 
county,  but  as  destined  to  take  rank  with  the  first  orators  in  the 

State. 

7 


CHAPTER    X. 

A  Hard  "Winter — A  Friendly  Rival  and  an  Accurate  Prediction — An  Offer 
— A  Trip  "  Out  West" — An  Indian  Host  and  his  Family — Interview 
with  President  Jackson — Uncle  James  Stephens — A  Toast — Dr.  Foster 
again — Friendly  Counsels — Georgia  Railroads. 

THOUGH  the  odds,  always  apparently  against  him,  have  lately 
seemed  heavier  than  ever,  Alexander  Stephens  begins  another 
year.  This  year,  1835,  was  memorable  for  storms  and  cold 
weather  of  all  sorts.  During  the  first  three  months  the  cold 
was  more  intense  than  had  ever  been  known  before,  or  has  been 
felt  since,  in  that  region.  The  thermometer  was  often  below 
zero  of  Fahrenheit,  and  once,  on  the  terrible  8th  of  February, 
fell  to  —10°. 

All  the  entries  in  the  journal  down  to  February  22d,  refer  to 
nothing  but  the  weather.  He  was  always  a  great  hand  for  mak 
ing  notes  of  the  weather  and  meteorologic  phenomena  generally, 
of  Avhich  perhaps  our  readers  may  have  noticed  an  instance  or 
two.  So  it  has  been  in  most  of  his  letters.  His  delicate  health, 
doubtless,  made  him  more  sensitive  to  these  changes ;  and 
through  January,  and  almost  through  February,  he  has  appa 
rently  done  nothing  but  sit  by  the  fire  and  talk  about  the  cold 
outside. 

In  the  mean  time  there  has  been  no  new  business  of  impor 
tance.  The  cold  seems  to  have  rendered  men  somewhat  torpid, 
and  less  disposed  to  carry  their  grievances  to  court.  He  can 
live  on  six  or  eight  dollars  a  month  ;  but  to  live  on  it  he  must 
first  make  it.  On  this  22d  day  of  February  he  talks  awhile  on 
what  he  has  been  doing,  and  on  what  he  hopes  to  do. 

"  February  22d. —  .  .  .  Have  been  for  some  time  in  serious  thought  upon 
the  subject  of  my  future  prospects;  and  feel  compelled  to  leave  a  place  to 
which  I  feel  so  much  attached.  .  .  .  We  have  in  this  village  a  society  for 
debate  in  which  I  take  much  interest,  and  in  which  I  feel  that  I  have  a 
formidable  competitor  in  A.  R.  W.,  one  of  my  old  classmates." 
93 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  99 

This  allusion  in  the  journal  brings  to  mind  a  conversation 
had  with  Mr.  Stephens  in  1866,  in  which  this  A.  R.  W.  was 
mentioned.  Mr.  Johnston  was  then  on  a  visit  at  Liberty  Hall, 
and  on  one  afternoon  took  a  long  walk  with  his  host  down  the 
small  stream  to  the  north  of  the  house. 

"  Along  this  branch,"  he  said,  "  when  I  first  came  to  the  bar, 
I  used  to  walk  once  or  twice  in  every  week  to  Thomas  Ray's, 
whose  wife  was  my  cousin.  I  would  go  home  with  the  children 
from  school,  and  spend  the  night.  The  next  morning,  as  I  re 
turned,  I  used  to  declaim  in  the  woods  that  were  here  then,  upon 
imaginary  topics." 

"  It  was  at  Cousin  Sabrina  Ray's  that  I  first  became  acquainted  with 
Dr.  Foster,  who  afterwards  became  one  of  my  best  friends,  the  Mentor  of 
my  young  manhood.  lie  used  frequently  to  go  out  there  when  worn  down 
by  his  practice,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  multitude.  When  he  went,  he 
would  lie  on  a  bed  and  rest  all  day.  He  had  a  high  esteem  for  Cousin 
Sabry,  and  called  her  cousin,  as  I  did.  I  heard  of  his  saying  something 
about  me  in  one  of  these  visits  which  did  me  great  good.  At  that  time 
there  was  a  debating  society  in  Crawfordville.  A.  11.  Wright,*  who  was 
then  residing  there  and  practising  law,  and  I,  were  usually  on  opposite 
sides  of  questions.  Cousin  Sabry,  Mrs.  Battle,  and  some  other  ladies  were 
speaking  of  Wright  and  myself,  when  they  appealed  to  Dr.  Foster,  who 
said,  l  The  difference  between  Wright  and  Stephens  is  about  this :  they 
will  both  get  into  Congress ;  but  Stephens  will  get  there  in  ten  years,  and 
Wright  in  twenty.'  The  report  of  this  compliment  gave  me  great  encour 
agement.  It  was  curious  how  near  the  prediction  was  to  literal  fulfilment. 
I  was  elected  to  Congress  in  nine  years,  and  Wright  in  exactly  twenty." 

In  the  same  entry  he  records  a  visit  that  he  paid  to  his  old 
friend  and  benefactor,  Mr.  A.  L.  Alexander,  who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  had  befriended  him  so  kindly  when  he  thought  of 
preparing  himself  for  the  ministry.  He  made  the  call,  which 
he  felt  to  be  one  of  duty,  with  many  misgivings,  for  he  did  not 
know  how  his  change  of  purpose  was  regarded,  nor  whether  he 
might  not  be  looked  upon  as  ungrateful  for  not  carrying  out  his 
benefactor's  wishes.  His  reception,  he  says,  was  not  unfriendly, 
but  cool ;  and  no  allusion  was  made  to  his  course  or  prospects. 

"  I  endeavored  to  be  familiar,  and  by  some  means  to  show  that  honesty 
of  purpose  of  which  I  was  conscious.  But  a  most  soul-killing  feeling  it 

*  Afterwards  member  of  Congress  and  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 


100  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

is  to  know  one's  self  suspected,  and  to  feel  conscious  that  every  attempt 
to  exculpate  or  explain  is  viewed  as  only  another  evidence  of  guilt.  This 
was  my  case ;  and  feeling  myself  overwhelmed  by  fate,  I  took  my  leave  as 
early  as  convenient,  with  a  heart  full  of  meditation,  sore  with  reflection, 
torn  with  grief,  and  yet  feeling  that  so  long  as  life  should  last  the  re 
membrance  of  my  first  acquaintance  with  Adam  L.  Alexander,  and  its 
incidents,  will  be  like  the  music  of  Caryl,  pleasant,  but  mournful  to  the 
soul." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Jeffries  removed  from  Craw 
fordville,  and .  proposed  to  Mr.  Stephens  to  go  with  him  to  Co 
lumbus  and  become  his  partner,  as  before  mentioned.  He  relates 
the  incident  and  the  grounds  of  his  refusal  in  a  letter  dated  June 
3d,  1856. 

"  I  assure  you  that  that  part  of  my  life  which  is  by  far  the  most  inter 
esting  is  that  which  was  spent  on  the  '  old  homestead,'  under  the  paternal 
roof,  and  in  the  family  circle.  That  was  the  '  day-dawn'  period  with  me. 
It  was  short,  nor  was  it  always  happy, — far  from  it ;  but  the  remembrance 
of  it  has  always  been  sweet  though  mournful.  My  strong  attachment  to 
the  place,  the  hills,  the  springs,  the  brooks,  the  rocks,  and  even  the  gullies 
with  which  I  was  familiar  from  my  earliest  recollection,  determined  my 
whole  course  of  life.  By  that  alone  my  destiny  has  been  controlled.  It 
was  this  alone  that  caused  me  to  settle  in  Crawfordville,  close  by,  where  I 
could  visit  them  at  pleasure.  When  I  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1834, 
the  prospect  of  a  young  lawyer  there  without  means  was  little  short  of 
starvation  just  ahead.  The  most  liberal  inducements  were  offered  me  to 
go  to  Columbus  and  become  one  of  a  firm,  with  a  proffered  guarantee  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  the  first  year.  This  I  declined  for  no  other 
reason  but  a  fixed  determination  I  had  formed  never  to  quit,  if  I  could 
avoid  it,  those  places  nearest  my  heart,  where  I  played  as  well  as  toiled  in 
my  youth,  about  which  I  had  so  often  dreamed  in  my  orphan  wanderings, 
and  which  I  was  determined  to  own  in  my  own  name  if  I  should  ever  be 
able  to  make  the  purchase.  This  is  what  kept  me  at  Crawfordville.  And 
often  during  the  first  year  after  my  settlement  there  did  I  walk  dowji  (for 
horse  I  had  none  to  ride)  to  see  those  old  familiar  scenes,  and  earnestly 
look  forward  to  the  day  when  by  aid  of  propitious  fortune  I  might  call 
them  my  own,  and  feel  that  whatever  else  might  betide  me,  I  had  the  place 
which  of  all  others  I  wished  to  live  at,  and  to  be  buried  at  when  I  die. 
This  local  attachment,  I  tell  you,  warped,  shaped,  and  controlled  my  des 
tiny.  .  .  .  The  great  object  of  my  youthful  days,  to  buy  it  back  again,  I 
was  unable  to  accomplish  until  1838.  The  owner,  wishing  to  remove  to 
Alabama,  came  to  terms  upon  which  we  agreed,  and  I  own  it  still.  I  have 
added  considerably  to  it  since ;  but  it  is  all  esteemed  by  me  as  the  '  old 
homestead,'  about  which  cluster  the  brightest  images  in  the  memory  of 
my  whole  existence." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS.  JQ1 

The  entries  from  this  time  until  March  19th  relate  entirely 
to  the  weather,  which  he  chronicles  with  the  conscientiousness 
of  a  meteorologist.  The  low  range  of  the  thermometer  is  noted 
with  dismay.  It  has  been  the  coldest  winter  in  the  recollection 
of  living  men.  Here  we  have  the  first  indications  of  its  mod 
erating  : 

"  March  19th. — Cleared  off  in  the  night,  with  high  wind  from  the  N.W.  : 
not  very  cold.  To-morrow  night,  by  appointment,  I  am  to  take  part  in 
our  debating  society  in  the  discussion  of  nullification.  Have  bestowed 
some  thought  upon  the  question,  but  find  the  whole  involved  in  much 
obscurity.  I  have  found  what  I  consider  to  be  a  correct  definition  of  Sov 
ereignty.  It  is  a  moral  attribute,  vested  with  full  moral  power,  natural  or 
adventitious,  to  do  whatever  is  consistent  with  right  and  duty.  In  its 
nature  it  is  inalienable :  it  cannot  be  transferred.  It  can  be  delegated  as 
a  trust,  but  can  never  be  conveyed  in  fee.  It  is  an  estate  tail  general  in 
the  male  line,  secured  thrdugh  Adam  to  all  his  posterity,  and  of  which  no 
father  can  deprive  his  offspring,  nor  any  government  its  subjects."* 

Having  nothing  to  do  this  month,  and  but  little  promise  for 
the  next,  Mr.  Stephens  determined  to  take  a  trip  "  out  West" 
with  a  small  party  of  friends.  A  remarkably  succinct  account 
of  this  jaunt,  which  was  not  very  satisfactory,  is  given  in  the 
journal.  "Robin  Adair,"  the  horse  he  bought,  falls  lame  from 
a  smith's  clumsiness  in  shoeing  him,  which  leads  his  owner  to 
conclude  that  "  it  requires  great  skill  even  to  shoe  a  horse." 
However,  Robin  manages  to  keep  up  with  the  party,  and  they 
push  on  across  the  Oconee,  the  Ockmulgee,  the  Flint,  the  Chat- 
tahoochee,  and  even  the  Tallapoosa,  Alabama.  They  find  the 
lands  good ;  and  our  traveller  thinks  that  there  were  good  pros 
pects  "  for  all  kinds  of  enterprises  in  which  a  man  could  so 
abandon  himself  to  circumstances  as  to  rush  into  the  contest 
regardless  of  his  character  or  that  of  his  companions." 

"  There  is  no  uniformity  of  character,"  he  observes,  "  among  the  people 
of  Alabama,  the  population  being  composed  of  immigrants  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  of  all  varieties  of  morals,  dispositions,  tempers,  and 
conditions  of  life.  The  whole  presents  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  irregular 
and  confused  material,  much  needing  the  hand  of  time  and  education  to 
shape  and  to  form  into  symmetrical  order." 

*  This  embryo  definition  of  sovereignty  was  afterwards  considerably 
enlarged  and  accurately  formulated  in  his  War  between  the  States. 


102  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

To  reach  the  objective-point  of  their  travels  they  had  to  pass 
through  the  Creek  nation,  and  lodged  one  night  with  an  Indian. 
The  circumstance  is  thus  described : 

"  We  found  that  our  host  was  a  man  of  authority  among  his  own  people, 
the  chief  of  his  town.  His  name  was  Witholo-mico^  He  lives  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tallapoosa,  near  his  own  ferry,  about  twelve  miles  above 
Autossee  battle-ground.  It  was  night  when  we  arrived,  and  found  for  our 
accommodation  that  there  were  two  cabins  upon  the  premises,  about  twelve, 
feet  square  and  eight  feet  high  each,  and  having  puncheon  floors.  One 
had  a  small  piazza  in  front,  and  both  had  the  crevices  between  the  poles 
of  which  they  were  built  neatly  stopped  or  daubed  with  red  clay.  Into 
one  of  these  we,  nine  in  number,  were  conducted,  saddles,  blankets,  bridles, 
and  all  except  horses,  which  were  turned  into  a  neighboring  lot,  where  the 
chief  gave  them  corn  and  fodder.  We  found  but  four  Indians  about, — the 
chief,  his  wife,  and  two  others,  one  a  boy.  The  wife  soon  arrayed  her 
self  in  a  new  clean  dress,  seeming  to  think  tha  dirty  smock  in  which  we 
found  her  not  becoming  the  lady  of  a  chieftain  in  the  presence  of  wThite 
men.  She  then  busied  herself  in  preparing  us  some  supper,  which,  when 
it  came  (in  about  an  hour),  consisted  of  fried  bacon,  eggs,  corn-bread,  and 
coffee, — very  good  fare  for  travellers.  At  table  we  had  all  the  accommo 
dations  of  civilized  life,  such  as  plates,  knives  and  forks,  cups  and  saucers, 
etc.  But  in  the  sleeping  line  we  were  not  so  fortunate.  Two  bedsteads 
were  standing  in  two  corners  of  the  house,  having,  instead  of  cords,  boards 
laid  across  their  sides,  over  which  were  thrown  some  blankets.  All  our 
company  were  soon  extended  on  one  or  the  other  of  these  hard  couches, — 
all  but  myself.  For  my  part  I  felt  little  like  sleeping.  The  hour,  the 
place,  and  circumstances  allowed  no  repose  to  my  mind.  The  lofty  look 
and  dignified  mien  of  Witholo-mico  (who  had  retired  to  the  other  house), 
his  keen,  deep-sunken  eye,  his  strange  guttural  sounds,  which  flowed  while 
speaking  to  his  wife  in  such  commanding  eloquent  tone,  were  all  before 
me.  Then  the  whole  Indian  history,  the  origin  of  that  powerful  race 
which  once  occupied  undisturbed  this  vast  extent  of  country,  their  habits 
as  observed  by  the  first  settlers  and  before  their  contamination  by  the 
white  man,  their  virtues,  their  patriotism, — all  these,  compared  with  their 
present  sunk  and  degrade^  condition,  crowded  themselves  upon  my  mind 
in  such  a  tide  of  reflection,  that  I  was  absorbed  in  thought  until  almost 
the  breaking  of  day^ 

"  In  the  morning,  I  was  delighted  to  see  the  chief  arrayed  in  his  national 
costume,  which  I  supposed  he  had  donned  in  compliance  with  a  wish  I  had 
made  to  that  effect  the  evening  before  in  his  presence,  not  thinking  that 
he  could  understand  what  I  was  saying.  His  dress  was  buckskin  leggings, 
reaching  up  to  the  hip,  beaded  with  materials  of  different  colors,  but  mostly 
red,  on  the  outer  seams;  a  coat  or  gown  reaching  half-way  down  the 
thigh,  also  beaded  in  various  parts :  a  shirt  extending  in  peaked  form  in 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  1Q3 

front  nearly  to  the  knee ;  a  red  band  about  the  waist,  which  was  elegantly 
beaded  ;  in  front  a  kind  of  case  or  sheath  for  the  reception  of  a  large 
butcher-knife  or  dirk.  This  belt  hung  nearly  to  the  ground,  much  like 
the  sash  of  one  of  our  field-officers.  And  to  conclude,  his  head  was  bound 
about  with  a  kind  of  loose  bandage  of  red  color,  very  full,  passing  directly 
around  and  across  the  forehead,  leaving  the  top  of  the  head  perfectly  bare. 
"  The  chief  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  whites,  which  I  at  first  attributed 
to  his  want  of  acquaintance  with  our  language ;  but  afterwards  was  dis 
posed  to  think  it  owing  to  some  other  cause,  either  a  sense  of  his  superior 
dignity,  or  the  fear  of  appearing  to  his  own  people  to  show  too  great 
familiarity  towards  foreigners,  particularly  their  worst  enemies.  He  kept 
himself  close  in  his  own  apartment  during  the  night,  and  though  he  was 
up  early  in  the  morning,  and  appeared  very  active  and  diligent  in  serving 
us  and  making  us  as  comfortable  as  possible,  yet  all  was  done  in  the  most 
dignified,  reserved,  and  unrelaxing  taciturnity." 

The  account  of  this  trip,  which  our  traveller  characterizes  as 
"  much  the  longest  journey  I  have  ever  accomplished,"  closes 
with  an  admission  of  his  being  on  the  whole  well  pleased ;  but 
with  an  avowal  of  having  no  notion  of  settling  in  the  region 
which  he  had  traversed. 

In  May  he  took  a  trip  to  the  North,  in  connection  with  which 
he  relates  two  anecdotes  which  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

One  is  his  first  and  only  interview  with  General  Jackson. 
Mr.  Stephens  had  left  home  on  or  about  May  20th,  travelling 
by  mail-coach  on  the  old  Piedmont  line.  On  taking  the  stage 
at  Washington,  Georgia,  several  parties  announced  the  startling 
intelligence  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  the  Creek  nation, 
and  the  massacre  of  the  passengers  on  several  of  the  United 
States  coaches  coming  through.  The  passengers  who  got  out  at 
Washington  were  in  the  only  coach  on  the  train  that  escaped. 
Early  in  the  morning  after  his  arrival  at  the  capital,  Mr. 
Stephens  called  on  the  President  to  pay  his  respects.  The  Gen 
eral  cordially  shook  hands,  and  insisted  on  his  taking  a  seat. 
He  was  sitting  alone  by  a  fire,  the  morning  being  raw  and  cold, 
in  his  dressing-gown  and  slippers,  his  silver  pipe  lying  by  him 
on  the  floor.  His  first  inquiry  after  his  guest  was  seated  was, 
"  What  is  the  news  in  Georgia?"  Mr.  Stephens  said  there  was 
nothing  of  public  interest,  except  an  outbreak  of  Creeks,  who 
had  massacred  the  passengers  of  seven  or  eight  coaches  in  the 
Creek  nation,  between  Columbus  and  Montgomery;  an  outrage 


104  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

which  had  created  great  excitement  at  Columbus.  "  Yes/7  said 
Jackson,  "  I  have  just  got  a  letter  by  mail — the  lower  route — 
telling  me  the  alarming  state  of  things  in  Columbus.  In  the  name 
of  God,  where's  Howard  ?"  (Major  John  H.  Howard,  whom  the 
Legislature  had  put  at  the  head  of  a  battalion  to  repel  any  out 
break  of  the  Indians  on  the  western  border.)  Mr.  Stephens 
replied,  "  He  was  down  about  Florence  or  Koanoke  by  last  ad 
vices."  "  Why  don't  he  move  his  forces  at  once  across  the 
river?77  "  I  don't  know  :  there  may  be  some  question  of  juris 
diction,  his  being  Georgia  forces,  under  control  of  Georgia 
authorities."  "Jurisdiction,  by  the  Eternal!  when  the  United 
States  mail  is  robbed  and  citizens  murdered  !"  And  springing 
to  his  feet,  "  In  the  name  of  God,  how  big  a  place  is  Colum 
bus?"  " About  three  thousand  inhabitants."  "Why  don't 
they  turn  out  in  force  and  drive  back  the  Indians  ?  Here  I 
have  letters  calling  on  me  for  aid,  and  telling  me  the  whole 
population  is  flying  to  the  interior !"  The  General  then  grew 
calmer,  inquired  the  distance  of  Florence  from  Columbus  and 
the  point  of  massacre,  and  asked  about  the  Indian  country. 
Mr.  Stephens  informed  him,  and  spoke  of  his  own  journey 
through  that  country,  and  his  lodging  with  Witholo-mico.  The 
General  knew  that  chieftain  well,  and  was  glad  to  hear  that  he 
was  in  no  way  connected  with  the  outbreak.  He  kept  Mr. 
Stephens  for  more  than  an  hour;  and  the  latter  was  greatly 
struck  with  his  weakness  and  emaciation  and  the  feebleness  of 
his  voice,  and  the  power  and  energy  he  displayed  when  aroused. 
The  other  anecdote  is  this :  On  his  journey  to  New  York, 
he  turned  aside  to  visit  his  old  uncle,  James  Stephens,  who  lived 
in  Perry  County,  Pennsylvania,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Juniata. 
The  family,  who  had  heard  nothing  of  his  coming,  were  at  once 
surprised  and  gratified  at  seeing  him.  The  uncle  and  some  of 
the  boys  were  out  at  work  on  the  farm,  but  soon  came  in,  and 
then  an  older  brother's  family  were  sent  for.  The  aunt  and  the 
girls  at  once  set  about  getting  up  a  good  country  dinner  in  honor 
of  the  occasion.  When  all  were  seated  at  the  table,  the  old 
uncle  at  one  end  and  the  aunt  at  the  other,  Uncle  James  asked, 
"  Well,  Alexander,  what  business  are  you  pursuing  ?"  He  re 
plied,  "  I  am  a  lawyer."  Instantly  the  whole  table  was  silent. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  105 

The  old  gentleman  threw  down  his  knife  and  fork  and  looked 
at  his  nephew  with  a  sort  of  horrified  amazement,  as  if  he  had 
said  he  was  a  highwayman  or  a  pirate.  "What's  the  matter, 
Uncle  James  ?"  "  Did  you  say  you  were  a  lawyer?"  "Yes." 
"  A  laim/er?"  "  What  of  that?"  With  an  expression  of  com 
plete  despair  he  asked,  "  Alexander,  don't  you  have  to  tell  lies  $" 
His  nephew,  greatly  amused,  replied,  "  No,  sir ;  the  business  of 
a  lawyer  is  neither  to  tell  lies  nor  to  defend  lies,  but  to  protect 
and  maintain  right,  truth,  and  justice;  to  defend  the  weak 
against  the  strong;  to  expose  fraud,  perjuries,  lies,  and  wrongs 
of  all  sorts.  The  business  of  a  lawyer  is  the  highest  and  noblest 
of  any  on  earth  connected  with  the  duties  of  life."  This  seemed 
to  calm  the  old  gentleman's  fears. 

A  few  entries  more  in  the  journal  bring  us  down  to  the  Fourth 
of  July,  and  its  inevitable  oration.  This  time,  however,  A.  R.. 
W.  has  the  first  place,  being  the  orator  of  the  day;  while  to 
Mr.  Stephens  is  assigned  the  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.  The  ceremony  closed  with  a  dinner  and  the  usual 
toasts. 

"  My  sentiment,"  says  he,  "was  this  :  '  Nominative  Conventions.  Dan 
gerous  inroads  upon  Republican  simplicity,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with 
the  exercise  of  that  free  choice  in  the  selection  of  their  officers  which 
constitutes  the  dearest  right  of  freemen.  May  the  intelligent  people  of 
this  country  never  become  the  misguided  dupes  of  a  Jacobinical  Directory  1' 
Opposition  was  made,  and  the  sentiment  drunk  by  few.  So,  .thought  I, 
pass  on  the  unthinking  multitude,  never  considering  their  rights  until  too 
much  endangered  to  be  secured  ;  never  considering  that  they  should  think 
for  thein.selves ;  but  readily  sanctioning  whatever  is  endorsed  for  them  by 
higher  authority,  thus  becoming  the  fit  instruments  in  skilful  hands  for 
the  execution  of  any  purpose.  Strange,  passing  strange,  that  men,  intel 
ligent  men,  who  ought  to  appreciate  the  cost  and  price  of  their  franchises, 
will  thus — but  it  is  unnecessary  to  censure.  The  fact  exists,  and  men  are 
rather  to  be  pitied  than  upbraided." 

The  dry  season  ended  on  the  13th  of  July  with  a  glorious 
rain.  This  put  everybody  in  good  spirits ;  and  our  friend  had 
that  night  much  to  write  about  the  weather.  He  gives  the 
whole  chronicle  of  it  for  months,  beginning  with  that  trip  to 
Alabama.  Never  was  there  a  man,  outside  of  those  whose 
business  it  is  to  record  these  phenomena,  who  had  so  much  to 


106  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

say  about  the  weather, — a  habit  which  was  to  last  as  long  as 
he  lived.  But  the  rain  improves  business  as  well  as  the  crops, 
we  find. 

"  July  16th. — Business  was  quite  lively  to-day.  William  Jones,  a  mer 
chant  in  this  place,  absconded,  and  left  many  creditors  to  suffer.  I  have 
since  last  night  written  twelve  attachments,  and  I  suppose  that  as  many 
have  been  issued  elsewhere.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  laws  providing  for 
the  satisfaction  of  the  claims  of  absconding  debtors  are,  like  many  others 
of  our  system,  very  defective.  For  they  can  be  called  nothing  but  a  snatch- 
and-take.  The  individuals  who  are  nearest  the  scene  of  action  and  can  use 
their  fingers  the  quickest,  or  have  money  to  secure  this  end,  can  always 
be  safe  ;  while  those  at  a  distance,  or  such  as  are  lying  under  some  other 
disadvantage,  are  totally  losers.  Not  only  so,  but  our  present  system  of 
attaching  might  be  used  as  an  instrument  of  the  grossest  fraud.  For 
should  a  man  of  extensive  securities  and  debts  become  too  much  involved 
to  meet  the  demands  upon  him,  and  then  communicate  this  fact  to  a  few 
of  his  creditors  whom  he  feels  disposed  to  favor,  it  is  evident  that  arrange 
ments  may  be  all  made  ready  for  the  favored  creditors  to  attach  and 
secure  themselves  instantly  upon  the  departure  of  the  debtor,  while  others 
quite  as  justly  entitled  to  relief  are  excluded  by  this  snatch  law." 

A  just  criticism  upon  the  law  of  Georgia,  as  it  then  stood, 
which  provided  that  those  attachments  which  were  first  levied 
should  be  first  satisfied  ;  a  state  of  things  which  always  created 
a  rush  and  scramble  among  home  creditors,  while  foreign  cred 
itors  never  heard  of  it  until  the  debtor  was  beyond  pursuit 
and  his  effects  divided.  This  defect  in  the  law  has  since  been 
remedied. 

The  entries  now  contain  but  little  of  interest  for  a  long  time. 
In  November  he  has  a  bit  of  business : 

"  November  27th. — Went  to  Warrenton  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  McGuire 
in  obtaining  his  enlargement.  He  was  confined  in  jail  for  assault  with 
intent  to  murder.  Rain  in  the  evening.  I  got  three  of  the  court  together 
between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  P.M.  One  drunk.  Court  could  not  agree 
upon  the  amount  of  the  bond,  and  adjourned  until  eight  o'clock  next 
morning.  Succeeded  the  next  day  in  getting  bail  for  McGuire  ;  felt  grati 
fied  at  the  relief  afforded  the  prisoner." 

This  release  of  the  prisoner  closes  up  the  business  of  the  year, 
as  far  as  lawver  Stephens  is  concerned.  It  has  not  brought  him 
much  profit;  but  as  he  can  come  nearer  than  most  men  to  living 
on  nothing,  while  others  of  his  professional  brethren  are  moving 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  1Q7 

away  in  search  of  less  sterile  pastures,  he  still  clings  to  the  old 
place.  The  little  money  that  he  can  save  he  spends  on  books  ;  the 
much  time  at  his  disposal  he  employs  in  reading  them.  An 
extract  from  the  Finkle  correspondence  will  throw  some  light 
on  this  period. 

"  No  one  can  imagine  how  I  worked,  how  I  delved,  ho\v  I  labored 
over  books.  Often  I  spent  the  whole  night  over  a  law-book,  and  went  to 
bed  as  the  dawn  of  day  was  streaking  the  east.  My  business  increased, 
and  I  studied  hard  to  keep  up  with  it  and  keep  the  mastery  over  it.  My 
brother,  A.  G..  who  in  1834  taught  school  in  the  Asbury  settlement, 
visited  me  often,  and  we  spent  many  pleasant  evenings  together,  when 
there  was  no  preaching  in  town,  in  walking  over  to  the  old  homestead, 
and  running  over  the  hills  and  up  and  down  the  branches.  These  excur 
sions  constituted  most  of  my  recreation  during  these  two  years,  except 
when  I  went  up  to  see  him,  or  went  on  a  visit  to  Uncle  Aaron  G.  Grier 
and  old  Aunt  Betsey.  My  time  was  occupied  almost  constantly  on  week 
days  in  reading,  studying,  and  office  business.  I  never  lounged  about 
with  village  crowds." 

Dr.  Foster  and  Mr.  Stephens  became  quite  intimate  in  the 
course  of  time.  He  found  the  doctor  to  be,  as  he  often  ex 
pressed  it,  "a  most  wonderful  man.77  His  knowledge  was  sur 
prising  ;  not  in  his  profession  only,  but  in  history,  science,  and 
art.  From  him  he  obtained  a  fund  of  information  which  he 
could  not  then  have  known  how  to  find  elsewhere.  This 
Mentor  of  his  youth,  as  he  used  afterwards  to  call  him,  often 
withdrew  him  from  his  studies  when  he  seemed  to  be  too  deeply 
immersed  in  them,  and  forced  him  to  relax  a  little.  On  some 
mornings  the  good  doctor  would  present  himself  on  horseback 
at  his  friend's  office,  saying  that  he  was  going  on  a  professional 
visit  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  and  had  come  to  take  Mr.  Stephens 
with  him.  No  remonstrances  or  pleas  would  avail;  he  must 
get  a  horse  and  be  ready  by  the  time  the  doctor  returned  from 
a  visit  in  the  village.  So  the  horse  was  got,  and  forth  the  two 
would  sally,  to  be  gone  sometimes  until  the  next  day.  In  these 
excursions  he  not  only  improved  his  health  by  the  exercise  and 
relaxation,  but  he  learned  much  from  Foster's  well-stored  mind 
and  large  experience,  and  gathered  from  his  friend  wisdom  of  a 
kind  that  is  not  to  be  found  in  books.  The  worthy  doctor 
knew  the  world,  its  good  and  its  evil,  and  would  advise  as  one 


108  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

who  knew.  He  had  himself  struggled  up  through  poverty  and 
other  adverse  fortune,  and  had  learned  that  integrity  and  in 
dustry,  even  without  extraneous  aid,  will  surely  in  the  end 
bring  success.  His  example  bore  out  his  precepts;  and  when 
ever  his  young  friend  felt  like  despairing,  the  sight  of  this 
excellent  and  brave  man,  who,  after  long  toils  and  the  buffetings 
of  adversity,  had  patiently  worked  his  way  alone  to  prosperity 
and  reputation,  gave  him  courage  to  press  on  and  patience  to 
endure. 

In  the  year  1836  litigation  was  destined  to  increase.  Money 
was  becoming  more  plentiful,  and,  the  usual  result,  the  tide  of 
speculation  was  setting  in.  All  things  were  preparing  the  great 
financial  crisis  which  was  at  hand.  Stephens  was  now  estab 
lished  in  reputation,  and  his  business  was  extending  into  other 
counties  besides  Taliaferro.  The  problem  of  living,  at  all  events, 
was  settled  for  him ;  and  Foster  felt  that  he  could  now  afford 
to  unbend  a  little,  and  open  his  mind  to  other  than  professional 
topics.  The  subject  of  railroads  was  then,  as  wre  have  seen,  at 
tracting  much  attention.  This  subject  Dr.  Foster  had  studied 
until  he  was  as  thoroughly  acquainted  with  it  as  any  other  man 
in  the  State ;  and  indeed  was  the  prime  mover  in  the  enterprise 
of  building  the  Georgia  State  Koad.  Mr.  Stephens  did  not 
know,  while  listening  as  Dr.  Foster  descanted  upon  the  magnifi 
cent  results  sure  to  follow  the  adoption  of  this  system,  that  he 
was  then  being  trained  to  act  as  its  champion  before  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State.  But  the  doctor  knew. 


CHAPTER    XL 

Political  Review — The  Two  Great  Questions — The  National  and  Federal 
Plans — The  Two  Parties — Powers  of  the  Federal  Government  and  of  the 
States — Great  and  Small  States — Meaning  of  the  Two  Houses  of  Congress 
— Different  Interests  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  States — Apportion 
ment  of  Representation— The  "Three-fifths  Clause"— The  Tariff1— The 
North  wishes  to  cede  to  Spain  the  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi — Ingeni 
ous  Strategy — The  "Alien  and  Sedition  Acts" — Resolutions  of  1798  and 
1799 — War  of  1812 — Acquisition  of  Louisiana — Mr.  Quincy,  of  Massachu 
setts — The  "  Missouri  Compromise"  made  and  broken — Mr.  Clay's  Com 
promise — "  Internal  Improvements" — "  Protective"  Tariffs — "  Nullifica 
tion"  Movement  in  South  Carolina — A  Threatened  Collision — Northern 
and  Southern  Democrats. 

IN  order  rightly  to  understand  the  political  career  of  any 
American  statesman,  and  to  comprehend  the  significance  and 
tendency  of  the  events  in  which  he  has  borne  a  part,  we  must 
not  limit  our  view  to  the  events  themselves,  but  must  look  be 
yond  them  into  the  causes  of  which  they  are  but  the  visible 
effects.  And  such  a  course  is  especially  necessary  in  the  case 
of  a  man  like  Mr.  Stephens,  whose  actions  have  been  guided 
throughout  by  fundamental  principles,  and  not  by  temporary 
motives  of  convenience  or  expediency. 

At  the  root  of  all  the  great  and  very  many  of  the  small 
political  questions  that  have  divided  the  councils  or  agitated  the 
citizens  of  the  Federal  Republic  from  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  even  before  it,  to  the  present  day,  will  be  found 
two  fundamental  causes  of  dissension, — two,  which  afterwards 
became  merged  into  one.  These  gave  birth  to  the  great  parties 
that,  under  various  names,  have  divided  the  American  people : 
in  every  important  measure  we  may  trace  their  operation,  and 
in  every  considerable  debate  we  find  their  champions.  From 
these  all  later  divisions  have  sprung :  their  irreconcilable  antag 
onism  brought  on  the  war  between  the  States:  they  are  still 
operative  in  shaping  the  destinies  of  the  country;  and  if  we 

109 


HO  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

thoroughly  comprehend  them  we  shall  hold  a  clew  that  will 
lead  us  through  the  intricate  labyrinth  of  American  politics. 

The  remodellers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  found  them 
selves  brought  face  to  face  with  perhaps  the  most  difficult  task 
ever  undertaken  by  man,  and  with  no  previous  experience  to 
guide  them.  They  met,  not  as  the  delegates  of  a  people,  but  as 
the  representatives  of  twelve  distinct  and  independent  sovereign 
ties  which  they  proposed  to  combine,  by  solemn  compact,  in  a 
Federal  Republic,  so  framed  that  while  this  republic  should  op 
pose  the  strength  of  a  great  State  against  foreign  aggression,  it 
might  also  offer  the  security  which  a  small  State  affords  its  citi 
zens  against  domestic  tyranny.  They  had  to  present  to  States 
still  glorying  in  their  newly-won  liberty  the  concessions  which 
such  an  organization  required,  in  a  form  that  would  least  alarm 
their  jealous  independence ;  to  reconcile,  as  best  they  could,  an 
tagonistic  interests;  to  balance  conflicting  powers,  and  to  adjust 
the  various  departments  of  the  new-modelled  organization  so 
that  neither  should  attain  a  dangerous  preponderance,  nor  any 
collision  occur  in  their  working  for  the  common  interest.  And 
all  these  adjustments  had  to  be  made,  not  for  a  territory  defi 
nitely  limited  by  natural  boundaries,  but  for  a  country  capable 
of  indefinite  expansion  in  almost  every  direction.  In  scarcely 
one  of  these  points  did  they  quite  succeed ;  but  it  is  matter  of 
amazement  that  they  accomplished  what  they  did. 

The  first  and  greatest  difficulty  that  they  had  to  cope  with, 
and  which  very  nearly  proved  fatal,  was  the  adjustment  of  the 
relations  between  the  Federal  Government  and  the  States.  In 
the  Convention  of  1787  there  was  a  considerable  party  who  either 
naturally  leaned  towards  a  monarchy  in  substance  if  not  in  name, 
or  thought  the  danger  of  foreign  aggression  far  greater  than  that 
of  the  tyranny  of  a  majority,  or  else  trusted  that  of  such  a  ma 
jority  their  own  States  would  form  a  component  part.  These 
were  for  increasing  the  strength  of  the  Federal  power  at  the 
expense  of  the  States ;  and  they  urged  the  advantages  and  even 
the  necessity  of  a  "strong  government/'  and  the  danger  of  the 
States  flying  off  at  the  first  clash  of  colliding  interests,  and  the 
whole  fabric  crumbling  to  its  elements.  This  party,  at  the 
outset,  presented  to  the  Convention  what  was  known  as  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  \\\ 

"Virginia  plan"  of  union,  under  which  the  States  would  have 
been  merged  into  a  consolidated  national  Republic. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  forcibly  urged  that  the  States  pro 
posed  to  form  this  union  for  the  security  of  their  recently- won 
liberties,  and  not  to  place  upon  their  necks  a  heavier  yoke  than 
that  which  they  had  cast  off;  that  to  give  power  to  the  Federal 
Qovernment  was  simply  to  give  power  to  the  majority,  always 
disposed  to  trample  the  interests  of  the  minority  under  its  feet. 
So  great  was  this  apprehension  of  the  tyrannous  instincts  of 
majorities,  that  it  is  probable  that  their  efforts  would  have 
accomplished  nothing  but  for  the  fact  that  the  States  then  in 
the  minority  expected  soon  to  find  themselves  in  the  majority. 

This  question,  after  infinite  difficulty,  and  after  the  Conven 
tion  had  been  several  times  at  the  brink  of  dissolution,  was  at 
length  settled.  The  Virginia  plan  of  a  National  government 
was  rejected,  and  the  Federal  form  continued.  To  the  Federal 
Government  was  conceded  just  so  much  additional  power  and 
no  more,  with  the  necessary  new  machinery  for  its  execution,  as 
was  thought  to  be  requisite  for  the  performance  of  the  functions 
entrusted  to  it.  It  was  permitted  as  before  to  declare  war  and 
conclude  peace  with  foreign  powers,  to  make  treaties,  to  estab 
lish  a  uniform  coinage  and  system  of  weights  and  measures,  to 
act  as  umpire  between  the  States,  and  so  forth.  As  the  States 
delegated  these  powers  to  the  Federal  Government  of  course 
they  waived  their  own  right  to  exercise  them,  and  declared  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  to  be,  in  these  points,  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land,  so  far  as  its  acts  were  in  conformity  with  the 
compact  of  unity, — that  is,  that  they  were  paramount  over  the 
laws  or  constitutions  of  the  States  in  those  matters  which  the 
States  had  placed  under  Federal  control.  In  all  other  matters 
the  States  explicitly  reserved  their  own  sovereign  rights,  as  was 
expressly  asserted  in  the  Constitution  itself  (X.  Amendment) 
and  in  the  acts  of  ratification. 

With  this  strict  and  carefully-guarded  limitation  of  its 
powers  the  Federal  Government  was  formed.  But  the  two 
antagonistic  principles  still  remained,  and  gave  birth  to  two 
great  parties.  Under  the  varying  names  of  Nationals,  and 
divers  others,  have  been  grouped  the  original  Consolidation ists 


112  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

of  1787  and  their  successors,  whose  constant  policy  has  been  to 
bring  the  Government  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  form  of  the 
Virginia  plan.  They  have  steadily  aimed  at  an  increase  of  the 
Federal  power  at  the  expense  of  the  States  (since,  all  powers 
being  divided  between  them,  whatever  the  one  wins  the  others 
must  lose),  favored  those  measures  that  from  time  to  time  arose 
involving  such  increase,  and  inculcated  the  idea  of  a  "  National 
government,"  an  idea  and  a  term  proposed  to,  and  unanimously 
rejected  by,  the  Convention  of  1787.  The  tendency  of  this 
party,  when  carried  to  an  extreme,  leads  to  consolidation  of  the 
States  into  a  nation ;  in  other  words,  the  transformation  of  a 
union  of  Republics  into  an  Empire. 

By  the  opposite  party,  known  at  various  times  under  the 
names  of  Republicans,  Democrats,  and  later,  State-rights  men, 
it  was  persistently  insisted  upon  that  the  liberties  of  the  people 
were  sufficiently  secured  by  the  Articles  of  Confederation  under 
which  they  were  achieved ;  but  that  those  Articles  were  chiefly 
defective  in  this,  that  the  acts  of  Congress  within  the  sphere  of 
their  limited  powers  under  these  Articles  could  not  act  directly 
upon  the  people,  but  depended  for  their  execution  upon  the 
sanction  of  the  States  respectively.  This  side  insisted  that  the 
only  proper  and  required  changes  in  the  Articles  they  were  then 
called  upon  to  remodel  was  to  so  change  the  organization  and 
machinery  under  it  that  the  Federal  Government  should  have 
as  supreme  authority  to  execute  all  the  delegated  powers  as  the 
States  had  in  all  the  reserved  powers.  The  Federal  Government 
was  to  be  as  perfect  a  conventional  State,  within  the  sphere  of 
its  delegated  powers,  as  each  State  in  that  of  its  reserved 
powers.  They  were  utterly  opposed  to  a  consolidated  republic, 
and  in  favor  of  preserving  the  federative  feature.  Since  that 
time  this  party  has  been  jealous  of  the  sovereignty  and  reserved 
rights  of  the  States,  and  dreaded  every  step  toward  consolidation. 

Both  these  parties  originally  took  the  broad  ground  of  con 
sulting  the  good,  not  of  any  section,  but  of  the  whole  country, 
and  they  were  therefore  great  and  legitimate  parties.  It  was 
left  for  a  later  day  to  produce  sectional  parties  avowedly  con 
sulting  the  welfare  of  their  own  sections  only.  When  that  point 
had  been  reached  a  rupture  was  inevitable. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

Out  of  this  great  primary  question  grew  a  secondary  one,  the 
adjustment  of  relations  between  the  great  and  the  small  States. 
In  the  Convention,  where  the  voting  was  by  States  only,  each 
State  had  an  equal  vote;  but  it  was  manifestly  unfair  that  in 
the  government  there  should  be  no  proportionate  representation 
of  the  greater  population  and  vaster  interests  of  the  large  States 
over  those  of  the  small  ones.  Without  some  such  representa 
tion  the  large  States  would  have  refused  to  sanction  the  plan ; 
the  great  State  of  New  York,  for  instance,  would  never  have 
allowed  her  vote  and  influence  to  be  cancelled  by  the  little  State 
of  Delaware,  if  ever  their  interests  happened  to  clash. 

On  the  other  hand  the  small  States  entered  the  Convention  as 
equal  sovereign  powers,  and  they  were  resolutely  determined 
not  to  abdicate  that  position.  Delaware  was  not  disposed  to 
allow  her  vote  to  be  swallowed  up  by  that  of  Pennsylvania,  as 
if  she  were  merely  a  county  of  that  great  State.  The  jealousies 
and  apprehensions  of  the  small  States  on  this  point  were  very 
great ;  and  Rhode  Island  kept  entirely  aloof  from  the  Conven 
tion,  was  not  represented  in  it,  and  deferred  acceding  to  the 
Union  until  1789. 

This  difficulty  was  at  last  overcome  by  the  mode  of  consti 
tuting  the  two  branches  of  the  Federal  Legislature ;  the  lower 
House  being  constituted  to  represent  the  people  of  the  several 
States  (not  the  people  of  the  United  States,  who  cannot  act  in 
their  collective  capacity,  and  have  no  existence  as  a  political 
entity)  proportioned  in  numbers  to  the  population  of  each  State, 
and  elected  by  popular  vote ;  the  Senate  representing  the  States 
themselves  (not  the  Legislatures  of  the  States)  as  separate  and 
equal  sovereignties,  and  in  it  the  States,  whether  large  or  small, 
have  an  equal  representation,  chosen  by  the  State  Legislatures. 
Thus  the  Senate,  it  was  thought,  in  which  the  smallest  State  has 
an  equal  voice  with  the  largest,  would  check  the  aggressiveness 
of  numerical  majorities.  Of  course  the  case  might  occur,  when 
the  States  grew  more  numerous,  that  a  common  interest  might 
band  together  a  majority  of  States  including  the  largest,  which 
would  then  control  both  the  Senate  and  the  House ;  but  against 
this  contingency  it  was  impossible  to  provide.  Much  stress,  too, 
was  laid,  in  the  discussion  of  these  questions,  on  the  conserva- 


114  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

tive  nature  of  patriotism,  which,  it  was  assumed,  would  induce 
majorities  to  forego  some  advantages  for  the  sake  of  the  welfare 
of  the  whole, — a  cheerful  optimism  hardly  warranted  by  history, 
and  not  confirmed  by  the  results. 

It  should  be  noted  that  in  the  plan  finally  adopted  by  the 
Convention  the  Government  still  remains  a  government  of 
States,  and  for  States,  because  no  law  can  pass  if  a  majority 
of  States  (in  the  Senate)  be  against  it. 

Another  problem,  springing  out  of  this  great  question,  arose 
in  the  distribution  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government. 
The  President  was  empowered  to  withhold  his  consent  and 
signature  from  any  bill  of  which  he  did  not  approve,  which 
could  only  then  become  a  law  upon  receiving  the  votes  of  two- 
thirds  of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  Thus,  if  the  President 
believed  a  bill  to  be  unconstitutional,  he  could,  by  his  veto, 
interpose  the  shield  of  the  Constitution  to  protect  the  minority. 
And  even  if  an  unconstitutional  law  received  the  President's 
approval,  or  were  passed  by  the  requisite  majority  over  his  veto, 
cases  occurring  under  it  could  be  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  validity  of  the  law  tested  there ; 
and  from  this  tribunal  there  was  no  appeal  in  the  matter  of 
rights  between  the  parties  as  thus  adjudicated  in  the  case  made. 
This  was  a  strong  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  Consolidationists, 
who  have  since  endeavored  to  make  both  the  President  and  the 
Supreme  Court  subservient  to  Congress. 

The  second  fundamental  and  permanent  cause  of  dissension 
arose  from  the  diverging  interests  of  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States.  The  States  of  New  England  had  a  sterile  soil  and  a 
rigorous  climate,  unfavorable  to  agriculture ;  but  they  enjoyed 
great  advantages  of  water-power  for  manufacturing,  and  of  bays 
and  harbors  favorable  for  shipping.  Hence  they  devoted  their 
chief  attention  to  manufactures,  commerce,  and  fishing.  The 
South,  with  a  fertile  soil  and  genial  climate,  devoted  herself  to 
agriculture.  The  system  of  African  slave-labor,  formerly  in 
use  in  all  the  States,  had  worked  to  great  advantage  in  the 
South,  while  in  the  North  it  had  proved  unprofitable ;  and 
though  Massachusetts  alone  had  formally  abolished  it,  the  other 
New  England  States  looked  to  its  extinction  in  their  territory. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  H5 

From  this  difference  several  questions  arose.  Maryland  and 
Virginia  desired  a  stop  put  to  the  importation  of  slaves  from 
Africa;  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  desired  its  continuance. 
This  traffic  was  carried  on  in  New  England  vessels ;  and  con 
sequently  the  New  England  States,  without  exception,  argued 
and  voted  for  its  continuance.  This  question  was  settled  by  its 
continuance  until  1808,  and  no  longer.  The  provision  for  the 
return  of  fugitive  slaves  was  adopted  unanimously. 

Another  question  arose  upon  the  apportionment  of  represen 
tation  among  the  States.  As,  at  the  North,  the  entire  popu 
lation,  including  women,  children,  paupers,  and  idiots,  were 
included  in  the  estimate,  the  South  demanded  that  the  slaves 
should  be  so  estimated.  But  as  such  an  estimate,  however  just, 
would  have  given  the  Southern  States  a  majority  of  represen 
tatives,  the  North  vehemently  opposed  it,  on  the  ground  that 
slaves,  being  articles  of  merchandise,  could  not  be  included  in 
the  population.  The  South  replied  that  they  were  persons, 
and  a  producing  class,  and  fully  as  well  entitled  to  rank  as 
population  as  were  the  non-producing  children,  idiots,  and 
paupers  of  the  North,  or  as  the  free  negroes.  It  was  finally 
compromised  by  estimating  five  slaves  as  equal  in  the  production 
of  wealth  to  three  free  persons, — an  estimate  already  fixed  upon 
in  apportioning  direct  taxation.  This  left  the  South  slightly 
in  the  minority  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Closely  connected  with  this  was  the  question  of  the  regula 
tion  of  commerce,  including  the  power  of  imposing  tariffs. 
The  Eastern  commercial  and  manufacturing  States  earnestly 
desired  to  get  this  great  power  into  their  hands ;  and  if  these 
acts  could  be  passed  by  a  mere  majority  of  votes,  they  would 
have  this  power,  as  the  North  already  outnumbered  the  South 
in  both  Houses, — Delaware  being  then  considered  a  Northern 
State.  The  South,  therefore,  insisted  that  acts  to  regulate  com 
merce  should  require  a  two-thirds  majority.  However,  they 
finally  yielded  this  point,  and  entrusted  the  control  of  commerce 
and  navigation  to  a  bare  majority, — that  is,  to  the  Northern 
States. 

In  truth,  at  this  time  the  Southern  States  expected  soon  to 
find  themselves  the  majority,  as  it  was  admitted  that  their 


11(3  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H<  STEPHENS. 

growth  was  then  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  Northern  States. 
But  the  North  was  determined  so  to  use  her  tenure  of  power  as,  if 
possible,  to  make  it  perpetual.  Two  points  may  be  mentioned : 

Before  the  formation  of  the  new  Constitution,  Virginia  had 
ceded  to  the  United  States  collectively  her  vast  territory  north 
west  of  the  Ohio,  and  agreed  that  it  might  be,  in  process  of 
time,  organized  into  non-slaveholding  (and  therefore  Northern) 
States.  But  to  this  immense  gift  she  attached  two  conditions, 
both  of  which  were  accepted,  but  only  one  of  which  was  kept. 
She  stipulated  that  not  more  than  five  States  should  be  made  out 
of  this  territory.  She  also  stipulated  that  these  States  should 
bind  themselves  to  return  fugitive  slaves;  this  they,  at  a  later 
date,  refused  to  do. 

While  thus  endeavoring  to  increase  their  own  power,  the 
Northern  States  also  strove  to  check  the  growth  of  the  South. 
Immigration  was  setting  strongly  toward  the  Southwest,  and 
the  South  calculated  on  the  accession  of  new  States  in  that 
region.  To  check  this  the  North  hit  upon  the  device  of  ceding 
to  Spain  the  exclusive  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi, — a  policy  which  would  have  effectually  stifled  the  growth 
of  the  Southwest.  Fortunately,  the  attempt  was  made  a  little 
too  soon, — before  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution — as  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  States 
was  requisite  for  concluding  a  treaty.  This  majority  they  could 
not  obtain ;  and  they  therefore  had  recourse  to  a  very  ingenious 
expedient.  Their  device  was  this :  to  pass,  by  the  two-thirds 
majority,  a  series  of  instructions  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
authorizing  him  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  Spain,  but  forbidding 
the  concession  to  that  country  of  the  claim  of  the  States  to  the 
control  of  the  Mississippi.  This  passed,  they  proposed  to  repeal, 
by  a  bare  majority,  this  prohibitory  clause,  leaving  the  Secre 
tary  free  to  conclude  a  treaty  in  accordance  with  their  wishes. 
This  stratagem,  however,  when  revealed,  excited  so  much  in 
dignation  that  it  was  abandoned. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  and  shall  more  fully  see  hereafter, 
these  two  great  antagonisms — the  antagonism  between  those 
who  favored  a  National  and  those  who  favored  a  Federal 
government,  and  the  antagonism  between  the  North  and  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  H7 

South — underlay  all  important  political  questions,  and  drew 
nearly  all  minor  questions  into  their  vortices.  Every  measure 
that  tended  to  strengthen  the  central  government  or  to  weaken 
the  States  was  favored  by  one  party  and  resisted  by  the  other. 
As  the  Northern  States  were  usually  in  the  majority,  and  the 
Constitution,  which  so  jealously  guarded  the  liberties  of  the 
States,  was  the  shield  of  the  minority,  the  North  is  usually 
found  advocating  a  "  liberal  construction"  of  the  Constitution, 
and  the  South  a  "strict  construction."  But  when  an  occasion 
arises  in  which  a  part  of  the  Northern  States  find  their  interests 
at  variance  with  the  wishes  of  the  majority,  we  see  them  at  once 
appealing  to  the  Constitution,  and  urging  the  reserved  rights 
of  the  States.  *X 

During  the  administration  of  Washington  several  attempts 
were  made  to  invade  the  true  meaning  and  spirit  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  these  originated  with  the  former  National,  at  this 
time  called  "  Federal,"  party.  They  endeavored  to  induce  Con 
gress  to  adopt  measures  looking  to  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
This  was  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  Congress 
declared  that  it  had  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 
Other  measures  also  came  up,  relating  to  representation,  finance, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
attempts  were  made  to  bring  the  States  nearer  to  consolidation, 
or  to  increase  the  powers  of  the  central  government. 

President  Adams  was  an  adherent  of  the  National  party,  and 
under  his  administration  attempts  were  made  to  confer  new 
powers  on  the  President  and  Congress.  The  "  Alien  and  Sedi 
tion  Acts"  empowered  the  President  to  banish  foreigners  with 
out  trial,  and  laid  heavy  penalties  on  persons  who,  by  speech  or 
writing,  should  defame  either  the  President  or  Congress.  Against 
these  measures,  as  gross  violations  of  the  rights  of  the  States 
and  the  liberties  of  the  citizen,  the  Legislatures  of  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  protested  in  their  celebrated  Resolutions  of  1798  and 
1799,  but  without  immediate  effect,  though  the  agitation  which 
they  produced  contributed  largely  to  the  political  revolution 
which  placed  Jefferson  in  the  Presidency. 

This  election  was  a  triumph  of  the  Strict-Constructionist, 
States-Rights  or  Democratic  party,  and  during  the  administra- 


118  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

tion  of  Jefferson  it  preserved  its  ascendancy.  Madison,  who 
succeeded  him,  had  at  one  time  been  a  leader  of  the  Nationalists, 
but  had  since  become  an  upholder  of  the  views  of  Jefferson,  and 
had  supported  them  in  his  able  Report  to  the  Virginia  Legisla 
ture  in  1799. 

During  Madison's  administration,  which  lasted  for  eight  years, 
events  occurred  which  changed  the  position  of  the  great  parties. 
The  hostile  acts  of  France  led  to  the  Embargo  Act  of  1807,  and 
the  conduct  of  England  brought  on  the  war  of  1812.  Now,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  Eastern  States  were  largely  interested  in  com 
merce,  which  suffered  greatly  by  the  war,  and  by  the  preliminary 
state  of  non-intercourse.  But  the  war  was  popular  with  the 
Southern  and  Western  States ;  and  New  England  found  herself 
in  the  position  of  a  minority.  Instantly  there  was  a  complete 
reversal  of  her  views,  and  she  began  to  shelter  herself  behind 
the  shield  of  the  Constitution.  Instead  of  a  "  liberal/7  she  now 
demanded  a  "  strict  construction"  of  that  instrument ;  and  in 
the  Hartford  Convention  vehemently  appealed  to  the  sovereignty 
and  reserved  rights  of  the  States,  and  even  looked  to  a  secession 
from  the  Union  as  a  last  resort, — a  measure  which  was  rendered 
unnecessary  by  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Great  Britain.  The 
alliance  of  the  Western  States  with  the  South,  to  which  they 
were  naturally  inclined  by  community  of  interest,  filled  her  with 
apprehensions ;  and  from  this  time  it  has  been  the  steady  policy 
of  New  England  to  keep  the  Western  States  under  her  influ 
ence  and  tutelage,  and  to  estrange  them  from  the  South ;  to 
foster  the  growth  of  the  Northwest  territory,  out  of  which  non- 
slaveholding  States  could  be  formed  ;  and,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
hinder  the  natural  growth  of  the  Southwest,  the  accession  of  new 
States  from  which  would  have  tended  to  restore  the  balance  of 
power. 

Thus,  the  proposed  acquisition  of  Louisiana  met  with  violent 
opposition  from  some  of  the  Eastern  members  in  Congress.  As 
usual  in  such  cases,  they  took  high  ground  of  strict  construction 
and  State-rights.  Their  ablest  orator,  Mr.  Quincy,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  declared  that  the  measure  would  result  in  changing  the 
relative  proportions  of  power  between  the  existing  States, — a 
thing  unconstitutional  and  not  to  be  borne;  that  it  was  a  "usur- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS.  H9 

pation  dissolving  the  obligations  of  our  national  compact;"  and 
that,  aif  this  Bill  passes,  the  bonds  of  the  Union  are  virtually 
dissolved ;  that  the  States  which  compose  it  are  free  from  their 
moral  obligations ;  and,  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be 
the  duty  of  some,  definitely  to  prepare  for  a  separation, — amicably 
if  they  can,  forcibly  if  they  must."  These  remarks  having  been 
pronounced  out  of  order  by  the  Speaker,  the  majority  of  the 
House  reversed  the  decision  and  declared  them  in  order.  Mr. 
Quincy  thanked  God  that  he  and  his  constituents  "  held  their 
lives,  liberty,  and  property  by  a  better  tenure  than  any  this 
National  Government  could  give, — by  the  laws,  customs,  and 
principles  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.77 

These  incidents  show  how  broad  principles  of  general  policy 
were  being  ever  more  and  more  subordinated  to  sectional  inter 
ests.  So  long  as  New  England  found  herself  in  the  majority, 
she  favored  the  increase  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  which  that  majority  would  control.  Whenever,  from  a 
coalition  of  part  of  the  Northern  States  with  the  South,  she 
found  herself  in  a  minority,  she  at  once  became  strict  construc- 
tionist,  and  fell  back  on  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States,  even 
to  the  point  of  openly  threatening  secession. 

These  crises  were  causes  of  real  and  well-grounded  alarm  to 
New  England.  As  the  tariff, — which  from  a  simple  source  of 
revenue  had  become  a  system  of  protection  intended  to  enrich 
the  manufacturing  interest  at  the  expense  of  the  agricultural, — 
the  control  of  commerce,  navigation,  etc.,  were  of  vital  impor 
tance  to  this  section,  it  regarded  the  prospect  of  falling  into  a  per 
manent  minority  as  little  less  than  ruin.  And  this  state  of  things 
would  inevitably  occur  whenever  the  agricultural  States  of  the 
Northwest  should  be  drawn  by  community  of  interests  into  a 
community  of  policy  with  the  South.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
attaching  them  to  herself  by  some  common  point  in  which  the 
West  agreed  with  the  New  England  States  and  differed  from 
the  South.  In  truth,  the  slave-system  of  the  South  was  not  an 
injury,  but  a  source  of  great  benefits  to  the  North,  for  to  it  was 
due  the  wealth  of  which  so  large  a  part  flowed  into  Northern 
coffers  under  the  operation  of  the  tariff;  and  hence  the  doctrines 
of  those  who  proposed  its  entire  abolition  met  for  many  years 


120  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

with  but  little  favor.  The  Southern  States  then  existing  were 
not  feared,  and  the  North  would  have  been  glad  to  see  them 
prospering  in  any  way  that  did  not  involve  an  increase  of  polit 
ical  power;  nor  were  theirs  conscientious  scruples  regarding  the 
rightfulness  of  slavery.  Both  these  points  were  illustrated  in  the 
desire  of  the  Eastern  States,  in  the  Convention  of  1787,  to  con 
tinue  indefinitely  the  African  slave-trade.  But  their  aim  was  to 
hinder,  as  far  as  possible,  increase  of  the  number  of  Southern 
States,  and  to  establish  a  line  of  demarcation,  both  geographically 
and  politically,  between  the  North  and  the  South.  This  mode  of 
procedure  had  several  advantages :  it  was  an  attempt  to  curtail 
the  rights  of  the  States,  which  the  North,  so  long  as  she  was  in 
the  majority,  was  ever  disposed  to  invade;  and  it  was  a  senti 
mental  question,  on  which  feeling  and  fanaticism  could  be 
aroused, — far  more  effective  instruments  of  agitation  than  the 
cool  reasonings  of  political  economy. 

In  1819—20  this  policy  was  brought  into  action.  In  the 
former  year  Missouri  applied  for  admission  as  a  State.  The 
lower  House  refused  to  admit  her  without  the  addition  of  a 
clause  to  her  Constitution  abolishing  slavery.  From  this  the 
Senate,  where  the  Strict-Construction ists  had  a  majority,  dis 
agreed,  on  the  ground  that  such  a  restriction  was  unconstitutional, 
and  in  violation  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  by  which  the  great 
territory  of  which  Missouri  formed  a  part  had  been  purchased 
from  France,  in  which  treaty  it  was  stipulated  that  the  existing 
and  future  occupants  of  that  territory  should  retain,  under  the 
United  States,  all  the  rights  that  they  enjoyed  under  the  govern 
ment  of  France.  So  the  bill  was  lost  for  want  of  agreement 
between  the  two  Houses.  In  the  next  session  the  application 
was  renewed  ;  and  this  time  Maine  also  was  applying  for  admis 
sion.  The  Senate  proposed  to  include  both  in  one  bill,  with  no 
restrictive  clause  on  either,  but  this  the  House  would  not  agree 
to.  At  last,  as  a  compromise,  it  was  proposed  to  disconnect  the 
two  bills :  to  pass  the  Maine  Bill  as  first  offered,  and  to  attach 
to  the  Missouri  Bill  an  amendment  providing  that  in  the  future 
slavery  should  be  forever  prohibited  in  all  the  rest  of  the  terri 
tory  acquired  from  France  by  the  Louisiana  treaty  lying  north 
of  36°  30'  N.  latitude.  This  compromise,  although  considered 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  121 

by  some  unconstitutional,  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty 
with  France,  finally  passed  both  Houses  ;  and  under  it  Maine 
was  at  once  admitted,  the  line  of  36°  30'  being  at  the  same  time 
established. 

This  was  in  March,  1820.  In  the  following  December,  at 
the  opening  of  the  session,  the  Representatives  from  Missouri 
presented  themselves,  and  were  refused  admission  unless  that 
State  would  abolish  slavery,  even  Maine  voting  against  keeping 
the  compact  under  which  she  had  herself  been  admitted.  But 
the  feature  of  that  arrangement  by  which  the  North  gained,  the 
prohibition  of  slavery  north  of  36°  30',  she  refused  to  abandon, 
even  when  appealed  to ;  thus  retaining  the  purchase-money  and 
at  the  same  time  withholding  the  article  purchased.  It  is  this 
establishment  of  the  line  of  36°  30'  that  is  usually  meant  by 
the  "Missouri  Compromise" ;  a  double  misnomer.  It  was  not 
a  compromise,  but  only  one-half  of  a  compromise,  the  equivalent 
half  being  withheld ;  and  under  it  not  Missouri,  but  Maine,  was 
admitted. 

These  proceedings  naturally  created  much  excitement  through 
out  the  country.  The  Democratic  party  at  the  North  saw  that 
the  antagonism  between  the  sections  had  been  made  the  pretext  for 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution  ;  that  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of 
the  States  had  already  been  accomplished ;  and  it  took  the  alarm. 
A  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  some  members  of  the 
House  which  rendered  them  desirous  to  change  their  action  at 
the  next  session,  if  any  means  of  doing  so  creditably  were  offered 
them.  At  this  juncture  Mr.  Clay  came  to  the  rescue.  There 
was  in  the  Constitution  of  Missouri  a  clause  prohibiting  the 
immigration  of  free  blacks,  which  was  objected  to  as  unconstitu 
tional.  Mr.  Clay  offered  a  resolution  that  the  State  should  be 
admitted  if  she  would  rescind  the  obnoxious  clause.  The  meas 
ure  was  superfluous,  inasmuch  as  the  clause,  if  contrary  to  the 
Constitution,  was  of  itself  a  nullity ;  but  it  afforded  precisely 
the  loop-hole  wanted.  Members  could  now  justify  their  votes 
on  the  ground  of  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  and  appear  con 
sistent  while  they  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  their  constituents. 
Mr.  Clay's  resolution  was  adopted,  and  Missouri,  upon  amending 
her  Constitution  as  required,  was  admitted  as  a  State  in  1821. 


122  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

This  settlement  quieted  matters  for  the  time ;  but  it  was  a  decided 
advantage  gained  by  the  Consolidationists,  as  it  yielded  to  the 
Federal  Government  power  to  legislate  in  advance  for  future 
States  in  matters  over  which  they  alone  rightfully  had  control, 
thus  overstepping  its  constitutional  limitations. 

Two  other  questions  soon  arose  to  agitate  the  country.  One 
was  as  to  the  policy  of  authorizing  the  Federal  Government 
to  apply  a  part  of  the  surplus  revenue  to  the  making  of  roads, 
improving  the  navigation  of  rivers,  etc.,  or  what  were  called 
"Internal  Improvements"  in  the  several  States.  The  main 
objections  to  this  policy  were,  that  it  was  another  step  toward 
enlarging  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  an  inter 
ference  with  the  rights  of  the  States ;  that  it  dangerously  in 
creased  Federal  patronage  and  influence,  and  that  it  put  it  intc 
the  power  of  Congress  to  favor  some  States  at  the  expense  of 
others, — apprehensions  which  were  all  conspicuously  justified  by 
events. 

The  other  question  was  that  of  the  Tariff.  The  necessary 
revenue  of  the  Federal  Government  was  raised  by  duties  upon 
imports,  a  system  more  convenient  of  management  and  -less 
objectionable  to  the  people  than  the  juster  but  universally  dis 
liked  plan  of  direct  taxation ;  and  so  far  as  it  was  employed 
simply  for  revenue  purposes,  this  plan  worked  sufficiently  well. 
But  the  public  debt  created  by  the  war  of  1812  made  a  large 
increase  of  revenue  necessary,  which  was  provided  for  by  in 
creasing  the  duties.  These  increased  duties  on  foreign  goods, 
enabling  American  manufacturers  to  raise  their  prices  to  the 
extent  of  the  duty,  largely  increased  the  wealth  of  the  manu 
facturing  interest,  now  very  important  in  the  Eastern  States. 
To  this  system  they  gave  the  propitiatory  name  of  "  Protection"  ; 
and  having  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  it,  they  increased  their 
demands,  placing  them  on  the  patriotic  grounds  that  it  was 
for  the  advantage  of  the  country  that  American  manufactures 
should  be  cherished,  even  though  the  result  proved,  as  was  con 
tended,  that  the  expense  was  chiefly  borne  by  one  section,  and 
the  profit  all  accrued  to  the  other.  So  the  Fishing  Bounties, 
another  device  for  taxing  the  whole  country  for  the  benefit  of 
New  England,  were  defended  on  the  ground  that  the  fisheries 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  123 

were  "a  nursery  of  American  seamen."  In  the  tariff  of  1824 
these  protective  duties  were  increased ;  but  it  was  accepted  by 
the  South,  trusting  that  when  the  public  debt  was  extinguished 
the  policy  would  be  abandoned.  In  1828  the  protective  duties 
were  again  largely  increased,  and  much  agitation  arose  in  the 
Southern  States,  as  it  was  evident  that  the  appetite  of  the  manu 
facturing  interests  increased  in  proportion  as  it  was  fed. 
-  In  1831,  President  Jackson  announced  to  Congress  that  the 
public  debt  was  nearly  paid,  and  recommended  the  reduction  of 
the  tariff  to  a  revenue-point.  Congress  replied  by  taking  off 
duties  on  articles  not  affecting  the  manufacturing  interest,  but 
retaining  the  rest ;  thus  showing  a  determination  to  fasten  the 
protective  policy  on  the  country.  Great  excitement  followed, 
and  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  called^  a  convention  of 
the  people  of  that  State  in  November,  1832,  to  consider  what 
was  to  be  done.  At  this  convention  an  ordinance  was  passed 
declaring  that  these  Tariff  Acts  were  unconstitutional  and  void  ; 
forbidding  any  attempt  to  carry  them  out  in  the  State,  and 
threatening  withdrawal  from  the  Union  if  the  Federal  Govern- 
metit  undertook  to  enforce  them.  A  collision  between  the  Fed 
eral  and  State  authorities  seemed  imminent.  President  Jackson 
issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that  he  would  do  his  duty  in 
enforcing  the  laws;  but  admitting  that  injustice  had  been  done 
the  State,  and  appealing  to  them  to  seek  redress  in  the  ways 
constitutionally  provided.  The  Legislature  of  Virginia  requested 
the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  to  suspend  their  action  until 
the  close  of  the  existing  session  of  Congress,  and  appealed  to 
Congress  to  modify  the  obnoxious  acts.  Mr.  Clay  immediately 
introduced  in  Congress  a  bill  providing  for  a  gradual  reduction 
of  duties,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  protective  system,  which 
passed  on  March  2d,  1833,  and  on  the  15th  of  the  same  month 
South  Carolina  rescinded  her  Ordinance  of  Nullification. 

The  peculiarity  of  this  doctrine  of  nullification  lay  in  the 
position  that  the  State  courts  were  competent  judges  of  the  con 
stitutionality  of  a  law  of  the  United  States,  which  might  there 
fore  be  abrogated  in  one  State  while  held  valid  in  all  the  rest. 
It  was  this  position  that  General  Jackson  resisted,  declaring  that 
no  State  could  remain  in  the  Union  and  refuse  to  obey  the 


124  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Federal  laws.     The  right  of  secession  from  the  Union  was  not 
brought  into  question. 

We  have  thus  cursorily  sketched  the  great  fundamental  ques 
tions  which  have  been  the  sources  of  political  division  in  this 
country,  and  the  most  important  crises  to  which  they  gave  rise, 
down  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Stephens's  appearance  in  the  arena  of 
politics.  Had  the  two  questions  at  any  time  coalesced  into  one 
— had  the  North  been  all  National,  or  for  Federal  aggrandize 
ment,  and  the  South  all  Democrat,  or  for  Federal  restriction — 
the  union  of  the  States  would  soon  have  come  to  an  end.  But 
the  fact  that  there  were  two  questions  instead  of  one — that  there 
was  a  large  and  important  body  of  Democrats  at  the  North,  and 
one  of  Whigs  at  the  South — made  the  division  general  and  not 
sectional;  and  by  the  lapping-over,  so  to  speak,  of  parties,  kept 
the  States  together. 

It  is  true  that  between  Northern  and  Southern  Democrats,  and 
between  Northern  and  Southern  Whigs,  there  was  not  absolute 
identity ;  but  there  was  a  sufficient  agreement  on  main  princi 
ples  to  enable  them  to  act  in  harmony.  Thus  the  Democrats  of 
both  North  and  South,  agreeing  on  fundamentals,  were  enabled 
for  many  years  to  maintain  a  majority  in  the  Federal  Legisla 
ture.  This  perfectly  legitimate  action  was  what  came  to  be 
called  in  after-years,  when  the  Abolition  party  had  gained  im 
portance  and  conspicuousness  disproportioned  to  its  numbers, 
and  when  the  element  of  abuse  had  come  to  be  a  prominent 
feature  in  political  discussion,  "  the  domination  of  the  slavo- 
cracy,"  and  "  the  North  crouching  beneath  the  crack  of  the 
slave-driver's  whip."  In  point  of  fact,  the  South  was  always 
in  the  minority  and  would  have  been  overridden  by  the  North, 
but  for  the  fact  that  a  large  Northern  party  believed  that  the 
chief  political  doctrines  held  by  the  majority  at  the  South  were 
those  most  conducive  to  the  liberty  and  prosperity  of  the  whole 
country. 

These  preliminary  remarks  will  give  an  idea  of  the  general 
drift  of  politics  and  the  position  of  parties  up  to  the  time  when 
Mr.  Stephens  embarked  in  public  life. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Mr.  Stephens  elected  to  the  State  Legislature — Speech  on  the  Kailroad  Bill — 
Letter  of  Hon.  I.  L.  Harris — Severe  Illness — Controversy  with  Dr.  Mer 
cer — Ee-election — Voyage  to  Boston — Letters  to  Linton  Stephens — Visits 
to  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland — Tries  the  White  Sulphur 
Springs  with  Advantage — Friendship  for  Mr.  Toombs. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1836  Mr.  Stephens  became  a  candidate  for 
the  State  Legislature.  The  citizens  of  Taliaferro  County,  though 
nearly  unanimous  in  the  matter  of  State  or  general  politics,  were 
divided  into  two  local  parties  by  the  rival  claims  of  two  influen 
tial  families.  With  both  of  these  Mr.  Stephens  was  on  friendly 
terms ;  but  his  avowed  preference  for  one  of  the  candidates  for 
the  State  Senate  excited  the  hostility  of  the  friends  of  the  other ; 
and. he  thus,  against  his  will,  became  identified  with  what  was 
called  the  "  Brown,"  in  opposition  to  the  "  Janes"  party,  which 
had  hitherto  been  in  the  ascendant.  From  the  latter  party  he 
met  with  strong  opposition,  and  the  contest  which  ensued  was 
sharp.  On  several  points  his  views  were  not  in  entire  agreement 
with  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  people.  He  had  taken 
ground  against  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  holding  that  while 
a  State  had  a  perfect  right  to  withdraw  from  the  Federal  com 
pact  if  she  believed  it  violated,  she  could  not  remain  in  the 
Union  and  refuse  to  obey  the  Federal  laws. 

Another  ground  of  opposition  to  him  was  found  in  the  strong 
position  he  took  against  the  formation  of  a  Vigilance  Committee 
to  punish  persons  found  circulating  what  were  termed  "  incen 
diary"  documents  among  the  slaves,  or  instigating  them  to  flight 
or  deeds  of  violence.  The  occasion  for  such  committees  was 
brought  about  by  the  practices  of  the  Abolitionists,  who  had 
been  for  years  attempting  by  means  of  secret  emissaries  to  excite 
discontent,  insubordination,  and  revolt  among  the  slaves;  and 
the  citizens  of  the  South,  growing  indignant,  had  in  many  cases 

125 


126  LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

resolved  to  visit  these  instigators  of  crime  with  summary  pun 
ishment  at  the  hands  of  Vigilance  Committees.  To  this  unlaw 
ful  course  Mr.  Stephens  was  opposed,  desiring  to  see  no  remedies 
resorted  to  that  were  not  provided  by  the  regular  means  of  jus 
tice.  This  brought  upon  him  the  charge  of  being  an  opponent 
of  African  slavery.  He,  however,  defended  his  course,  and  ex 
plained  his  position  on  the  subject  so  satisfactorily  as  to  gain 
the  election  by  a  vote  more  than  double  that  of  his  highest 
competitor. 

These  were  times  when  the  best  and  ablest  men  were  not,  as 
of  late  years,  averse  to  entering  the  General  Assembly ;  and  it 
is  not  often  that  a  larger  number  of  such  men  have  been  assem 
bled  in  any  State  Legislature  than  were  now  in  this.  Mr.  Ste 
phens,  however,  was  an  invalid  during  almost  the  entire  session, 
having  been  prostrated  by  severe  fever  from  August  22d  to  a 
few  days  previous  to  the  election  in  October,  and  he  was  long 
in  recovering  from  the  effects  of  this  attack.  While  in  the 
House  he  took  but  little  part  in  the  transaction  of  business,  but 
devoted  himself  to  studying  the  men  and  things  around  him. 
He  had  seen  upon  how  shallow  and  fleeting  a  foundation  mere 
verbal  eloquence  rests  when  not  built  upon  sound  judgment  and 
clear  knowledge  of  the  subjects  at  issue;  and  he  refrained  from 
speaking  until  an  occasion  should  offer  when  he  could  speak 
from  knowledge  and  conviction. 

This  occasion  presented  itself  in  the  debate  on  the  bill  for  the 
construction  of  the  Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad.  Such  was 
the  ignorance  on  this  subject  at  the  time,  that  the  friends  of  the 
measure  had  little  hope  of  its  success.  But  there  were,  both  in 
the  Legislature  and  out  of  it,  men  who  were  able  to  see  the  vast 
importance  of  the  work ;  and  of  all  these  perhaps  the  man  most 
thoroughly  informed  was  Dr.  Foster,  who  had  already  crammed 
his  young  friend  Stephens  with  all  the  information  that  could 
be  obtained.  With  the  view  to  bring  as  much  outside  pressure 
as  possible  upon  the  Legislature,  the  friends  of  the  enterprise 
held  a  convention  in  Macon,  just  before  the  session,  to  which 
Dr.  Foster  was  a  delegate.  There  was  much  enthusiasm  in  the 
deliberations ;  resolutions  were  passed  in  favor  of  the  road,  and 
a  committee  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  State  appointed  to  memo- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  127 

rialize  the  Legislature  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Foster  returned  by 
way  of  Milledgeville,  and  spent  some  time  with  Mr.  Stephens, 
urging  him  to  support  the  measure,  and  furnishing  him  with 
new  facts  and  arguments. 

The  debate  began.  Speeches  had  been  made  on  both  sides, 
and  the  friends  of  the  measure  looked  upon  their  case  as  hope 
less,  when  Mr.  Stephens,  whom  few  of  the  members  knew,  arose 
and  made  his  first  speech.  It  was  a  triumph.  He  was  the  first 
to  point  out  wrhat  all  had  overlooked, — the  enhancement  in  value 
which  would  result  to  the  property  on  both  sides  the  road. 
This  opened  entirely  new  views  of  prosperity  to  those  who  had 
thought  only  of  the  traffic  and  travel.  Men  were  amazed  to  see 
how  great  an  amount  of  information  on  the  subject  so  young  a 
man  had  acquired,  and  how  enlarged  were  the  views  he  took 
of  the  ultimate  results  of  the  measure.  This  speech  not  only 
carried  the  bill,  but  placed  him  at  once  in  the  foremost  rank 
of  orators  and  debaters  in  the  State.' 

Mr.  Stephens  has  lived  to  see  the  road  and  the  system  which 
he  advocated  become  the  grand  source  of  prosperity  to  his  native 
State ;  and  he  has  seen  the  day,  in  the  times  which  followed  the 
war,  when  these  roads  were  almost  her  only  salvation  from 
financial  ruin. 

An  extract  from  a  letter  written  twenty  years  later  by  the 
Hon.  Iverson  L.  Harris  (afterwards  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Georgia)  to  Professor  Williams  Rutherford,  of  the  Georgia 
University,  gives  some  interesting  reminiscences  of  this  speech. 
Mr.  Harris  says : 

"  The  debate  lingered  for  days,  and  when  every  one  was  worn  down  and 
tired  of  the  name  of  '  Main  Trunk,'  from  under  the  gallery  a  clear  shrill 
voice,  unlike  that  of  any  man  of  my  acquaintance,  was  heard  saying, 
'  Mr.  Speaker  r 

"  Every  eye  was  turned  to  the  thin,  attenuated  form  of  a  mere  boy,  with 
a  black  gleaming  eye  and  cadaverous  face.  The  attention  became  breath 
less,  the  House  was  enchained  for  half  an  hour  by  a  new  speaker,  and  one 
with  new  views  of  the  question,  such  as  had  not  been  discussed  or  hinted 
at  by  others. 

"  When  he  sat  down  there  was  a  burst  of  applause  from  a  full  gallery, 
and  many  of  us  on  the  floor  joined  in  the  chorus.  That  speech  was  elec 
trical  !  It  gave  life  to  a  dull  debate,  it  aided  immensely  in  the  passage  of 


128  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

'  the  bill  for  the  survey  of  the  road,  and  the  appropriation  for  it.     It  was 
the  first  and  maiden  speech  in  the  Legislature  of  that  gentleman.     From 
that  hour  he  has  been  a  man  of  mark,  and  now  he  is  recognized  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington  as  its  foremost  man. 
"  Need  I  say  that  man  was  Alexander  II.  Stephens." 

By  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  had  acquired  a  good  practice,  and 
was  taking  rank  with  the  foremost  men  of  the  circuit.  The 
problem  of  success  was  already  solved,  so  far  as  it  depended 
upon  his  intellectual  and  moral  capacities.  But  the  enemy 
which  came  with  him  into  the  world  and  had  never  left  him,  now 
beset  him  more  fiercely  than  ever.  As  he  began  riding  the  cir 
cuit  in  the  spring  of  1837,  he  was  stricken  down  with  illness 
and  confined  to  his  bed  for  months.  Weak  at  the  best,  when 
prostrated  by  sickness  he  was  a  piteous  spectacle  of  utter  help 
lessness  and  suffering;  and  for  weeks  there  seemed  not  a  shadow 
of  hope  of  his  recovery.  Even  when  convalescence  began,  many 
more  weeks  elapsed  before  he  could  walk  alone ;  and  he  used  to 
be  lifted  from  his  bed  and  placed  upon  the  floor  that  he  might 
crawl  about  a  little,  though  he  could  not  stand.  In  July  he  was 
sufficiently  recovered  to  venture  on  a  journey  of  easy  stages ; 
and  by  the  advice  of  his  physician  his  brother,  Aaron  Grier, 
took  him  to  the  mountains.  They  went  first  in  a  buggy  to 
Clarksville,  then  to  the  Naucochee  valley,  then  to  Gainesville 
and  the  adjacent  springs,  and  thence  to  the  Indian  Springs, 
returning  home  in  September. 

It  was  during  this  journey  that  a  warm  controversy  arose  be 
tween  him  and  Dr.  Leonidas  B.  Mercer,  the  leading  man  of  the 
Janes  party,  which  had  opposed  Mr.  Stephens  so  strongly.  These 
two  men  became  very  friendly  in  later  times,  and  no  trace  re 
mained  of  any  feeling  engendered  by  the  acrimony  of  their  old 
contest.  The  affair,  as  has  already  been  mentioned,  grew  out 
of  a  misunderstanding  of  some  expressions  which  Mr.  Stephens 
had  used  in  reference  to  the  Proclamation  and  Force  Bill  of 
President  Jackson.  Dr.  Mercer  had  confounded  the  Protest 
with  the  Proclamation  aimed  at  the  action  of  South  Carolina  in 
1832,  the  former  of  which  Mr.  Stephens  justified,  but  did  not 
approve  the  latter.  In  the  discussion  Mr.  Stephens  showed 
clearly  that  he  had  been  misunderstood ;  and  the  people  of  his 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II,  STEPHENS. 

county  adhered  the  more  closely  and  firmly  to  him.  Notwith 
standing  his  weakness,  he  conducted  this  controversy  with  sur 
prising  vigor  and  spirit.  No  one,  reading  his  pamphlets,  could 
imagine  that  they  were  written  by  an  invalid,  almost  prostrated 
by  physical  debility,  and  at  a  time  when  death  seemed  almost  at 
the  door.  The  result  was  that  he  was  returned  without  opposi 
tion  in  1837. 

In  the  year  1838,  his  general  health  not  having  improved,  he 
was  advised  to  try  a  sea-voyage.  He  first  went  to  Boston.  On 
the  25th  day  of  May  he  passed  in  view  of  Fort  Warren.  What 
would  he  have  felt  if  he  could  have  foreseen  that  on  the  same 
day,  twenty-seven  years  later,  for  his  firm  adherence  to 'the  great 
principles  on  which  our  liberty  depends,  and  his  fearless  exer 
cise  of  what  was  once  vaunted  as  the  birthright  of  every  American 
citizen, — liberty  of  political  speech  and  action, — he  would  be  sent 
there  as  a  prisoner  to  be  immured  in  a  cell !  The  phenomenon 
of  a  Seward  with  his  "little  bell"  had  never  at  that  time  entered 
men's  minds  as  a  conceivable  possibility  in  their  wildest  imagin 
ings.  But  great  as  would  have  been  his  astonishment  at  such  a 
vision  of  the  future,  it  could  not  have  been  greater  than  that 
caused  by  the  knowledge  that  his  life  would  be  prolonged  to 
that  extent. 

Before  taking  this  voyage  he  went  to  Washington.  We  have 
a  letter  written  from  that  city  to  his  younger  brother  Linton, 
then  not  quite  fourteen  years  old  (whose  guardianship  he  had 
assumed  a  few  months  before  leaving  home),  from  which  we 
make  the  following  extracts : 

"  Be  true  to  yourself  now,  in  the  days  of  your  youth.  Improve  your 
mind;  apply  yourself  to  your  books:  and  when  I  am  silent  in  the  grave 
you  may  then  be  treading  the  floors  now  presented  to  my  eye,  honored 
with  office  of  the  highest  rank.  Always  look  up ;  think  of  nothing  but 
objects  of  the  highest  ambition  which  can  be  compassed  by  energy,  virtue, 
and  strict  morality,  with  a  reliance  upon  a  holy,  pure,  and  all-ruling 
Providence.  But  never  forget  your  dependence  and  mortality.  Let  them 
be  your  morning  and  evening  musings ;  and  in  all  things  do  nothing  on 
which  you  could  not  invoke  the  divine  blessing." 

On  June  4th,  he  writes  from  Keene,  New  Hampshire : 

"  I  have  a  great  deal  of  anxiety  of  mind  about  you.  No  day  passes  but 
you  are  in  my  mind ;  and  you  do  not  escape  from  my  dreams  by  night. 

9 


130  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Sometimes  I  fear  I  did  not  counsel  you  enough  before  leaving  home.  Only 
one  thing  I  neglected :  that  was  to  advise  you  what  to  do  in  case  you  and 

Mr. [his  teacher]  do  not  agree.     In  such  case,  I  want  you  to  quit 

instanter  and  await  my  return.  I  do  not  intend  that  you  shall  be  abused 
or  trodden  upon  by  any  mortal.  ...  In  all  your  dealings  give  offence  to 
no  one,  and  be  you  the  subject  of  no  man's  offence.  .  .  .  But  if  a  crisis 
comes,  show  that  you  are  a  man,  and  have  a  spirit  that  never  cowers ;  and 
if  any  wretch  pulls  your  nose  or  ears,  asking  '  who  are  youT  tell  him  that 
you  are  a  freeman's  son,  and  be  sure  you  do  honor  to  his  blood.  But 
never  condescend  to  notice  small  offences.  Be  above  them." 

In  his  letter  of  June  30th,  from  Saratoga  Springs,  he  is  afraid 

he  spoke  too  unadvisedly  about  Mr. ,  and  adds  a  word  of 

caution.  '  He  then  falls  into  some  remarks  about  human  life : 

"  Our  sojourn  here  is  uncertain,  and  every  day  should  be  spent  as  if  our 
last.  Readiness  for  that  event  is  our  great  business  here.  ...  In  all  our 
letters  and  conversations  with  each  other,  it  should  be  a  main  object  to  be 
imparting  such  information  as  would  afterwards  be  desirable  and  useful  in 
case  of  a  sudden  departure." 

It  is  his  own  departure  that  he  has  in  view;  but  he  phrases  it 
in  this  general  wTay  to  be  less  painful  to  his  brother,  while  at  the 
same  time  it  is  a  kind  of  apology  for  filling  his  letters  with  so 
much  advice.  Not  knowing  how  soon  he  may  be  called  away, 
he  is  anxious,  while  life  is  yet  spared  him,  to  give  all  the  counsel 
he  may  to  the  boy-brother  to  whom  he  fills  a  father's  place,  and 
to  leave  him,  if  he  can,  a  man  in  thoughts  and  feelings,  though 
a  boy  in  years. 

His  health,  instead  of  improving,  grew  worse.  He  visited 
Saratoga  Springs,  Carlisle  Sulphur  Springs  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  finally  reached  Baltimore.  Despairing  of  recovery,  he 
was  about  to  return  home  in  the  full  expectation  of  speedy 
death,  when  he  happened  to  meet  Mr.  John  Crowell,  of  Ala 
bama,  who  urged  him  to  try  the  Greenbrier  White  Sulphur 
Springs,  of  Virginia,  to  which  he  was  himself  going,  most 
kindly  proposing  that  they  should  travel  in  company,  and  he 
would  take  care  of  him  on  the  way.  He  complied  with  this 
friendly  proposition.  He  remained  at  the  Springs  three  weeks, 
contrary  to  his  expectation,  found  great  benefit  from  the  waters, 
and  returning  home,  continued  to  improve  all  the  next  fall  and 
winter.  He  was  agaii  returned  to  the  Legislature,  without 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

opposition,  and  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
House. 

During  his  absence  his  business  was  attended  to  by  his  devoted 
friend,  Mr.  Toombs,  and  his  brother  Grier;  the  former  carrying 
the  cases  through  the  courts,  and  the  latter  entering  the  judg 
ments  and  doing  the  collections.  Grier  had  left  Augusta  finally 
when  he  came  to  his  brother  while  sick  with  his  first  attack  in 
1837,  and  remained  with  him  ever  afterwards,  attending  to  the 
out-door  business  of  his  office,  for  which  he  was  well  qualified. 
Mr.  Toombs  proposed  to  Mr.  Stephens  to  leave,  during  his  ab 
sence,  all  business  in  his  hands,  and  generously  offered  to  bear 
his  expenses ;  which  latter  offer  was,  however,  declined,  as  with 
economy  it  was  not  necessary.  The  offer  of  service  was  accepted, 
and  the  work  punctually  and  efficiently  done.  This  friendship 
was  a  beautiful  union  between  this  weak  and  this  strong  man, 
equals  in  intellect  and  in  culture,  but  the  one  as  exuberant  in 
health  and  vigor  as  the  other  was  frail  and  infirm.  On  the  sole 
occasion  when  they  were  divided,  it  was  a  pleasing  and  interest 
ing  sight  to  mark  how  they  avoided  open  antagonism  of  their 
powers,  and  to  note  the  consideration  which  each  exhibited  for 
the  friendship  of  long  years.  They  were  soon  reunited,  and  were 
companions  in  the  struggle  for  the  success  of  the  Southern  cause 
when  that  crisis  came,  and  in  the  sufferings  that  followed  its 
overthrow. 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 

Improved  Health — Delegate  to  Southern  Commercial  Convention — Answer 
to  Mr.  Preston — "  My  Son" — Linton  at  the  University — Fourth  of  July 
Celebrations  in  Auld  Lang  Syne — Grand  Doings  at  Crawfordville — A 
Speech — "  Caesar  and  Pompey" — Independence  of  Party — The  Whigs — 
Uncertainty  of  the  State-Eights  Party — Re-election  to  the  Legislature. 

IN  the  year  1839,  Mr.  Stephens  was  able  to  give  much  more 
attention  to  his  profession.  His  health,  though  still  feeble,  had 
been  so  far  restored  by  the  efficacy  of  the  Virginia  Springs, 
that  he  was  in  far  better  condition  than  during  the  two  pre 
ceding  years. 

In  April  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Southern  Commercial  Con 
vention  that  was  to  meet  in  Charleston.  Though  well  and  widely 
known  in  his  native  State,  his  reputation  had  not  yet  extended 
beyond  it.  In  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  conventions  of  this 
kind  were  usually  composed  of,  and  attended  by,  the  men  of 
highest  talent  and  character  in  their  respective  districts.  In  this 
one  especially,  the  men  of  chief  intellectual  and  social  rank  that 
South  Carolina  could  boast  were  present  to  do  honor  to  the 
representatives  of  the  other  Southern  States. 

On  the  question  as  to  what  was  the  best  point  for  establishing 
direct  trade  between  Europe  and  the  South,  the  States  of  Geor 
gia  and  South  Carolina — as  was  unfortunately  the  case  on  many 
important  issues — were  at  variance.  In  the  debates,  the  Caro 
linians,  among  whom  were  more  able  speakers  than  in  the  dele 
gation  from  any  other  State,  seemed  to  have  the  decision  of  this 
question  entirely  within  their  control.  The  eloquent  Hayne  had 
spoken,  and  Hamilton,  and  finally  Preston,  the  most  brilliant 
orator  of  the  State,  had  seemed  to  close  the  door  to  all  further 
discussion.  It  was  then  that  Mr.  Stephens,  to  the  surprise  of 
his  colleagues,  and  the  amazement  of  all  who  then  observed  him 
for  the  first  time,  rose  and  answered  Mr.  Preston. 
132 


LIFE   OF    ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  133 

It  was  amusing  to  watch  the  incredulous  astonishment,  as  of 
men  who  could  not  believe  their  own  eyes,  with  which  the 
spectators  gazed  at  the  extraordinary  spectacle  of  one  who 
seemed  a  puny  youth,  not  yet  grown  to  man's  estate,  entering 
the  lists  with  the  foremost  orators  and  debaters  of  the  South, 
and  matching  them  in  the  contest.  This  speech  was  generally 
considered  a  triumphant  vindication  of  Georgia's  side  of  the 
question  ;  and  long  before  it  closed  the  speaker  was  recognized 
as  one  destined  to  take  his  place  among  the  foremost  intellects 
of  the  country. 

A  short  time  before  this  speech  was  delivered,  and  before  the 
form  and  appearance  of  Mr.  Stephens  were  generally  known, 
an  incident  occurred  which  shows  how  extremely  youthful  he 
then  looked.  He  was  reclining  on  a  lounge  at  the  hotel,  en 
gaged  in  conversation  with  a  group  of  gentlemen  who  had 
gathered  round,  when  the  proprietor,  seeing  a  whole  lounge 
taken  up  by  what  seemed  a  mere  stripling,  while  men  were 
standing  round,  approached  him  with  the  mild  rebuke,  "My 
son,  don't  take  up  the  whole  lounge ;  let  these  gentlemen  be 
seated."  Mr.  Stephens  arose  at  once,  but  a  general  guffaw  fol 
lowed,  and  an  explanation  and  apology  from  the  surprised  and 
abashed  proprietor.  One  of  the  guests  was  Thomas  Chaffin, 
the  leading  merchant  and  wag  of  Crawfordville,  who  took 
especial  delight,  on  his  return,  in  enacting  the  scene,  with  all 
his  dramatic  powers,  to  his  fellow-townsmen. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  his  younger  brother,  Linton, 
entered  the  State  University ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  mark  in 
the  correspondence  the  absorbing  attention  with  which  his  career 
was  watched  by  the  elder.  No  fondest  father  ever  showed 
more  tenderness,  more  though tfiilhess,  more  loving  solicitude. 
The  large  sheets  of  paper  are  crowded  on  all  sides  with  counsel, 
with  warning,  with  words  of  affection,  with  the  inmost  thoughts 
of  the  writer's  heart.  In  the  first  letter  of  this  period,  bearing 
date  August  8th,  1839,  the  four  pages  are  so  covered  with  close 
handwriting  that  barely  space  is  left  for  the  address,  envelopes 
having  not  then  been  introduced.'  In  this  letter  the  writer  says 
that  he  scarcely  slept  the  night  after  his  brother's  departure, 
and  inquires  about  everything;  how  he  liked  the  country;  who 


134  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

preached  the  Commencement  sermon, — how  he  liked  that ;  how 
many  boys  were  in  his  class ;  what  professor  examined  him, — 
in  what  book,  at  what  passage ;  how  many  questions  he  missed, 
was  he  much  scared;  how  he  liked  the  college  buildings,  the 
botanical  gardens,  etc.  Then  follows  advice,  suggestions  about 
getting  rooms,  considerations  whether  he  and  John  Bird  (Lin- 
ton's  but  not  Alexander's  cousin,  who  goes  under  Alexander's 
patronage)  had  better  room  together  or  separately.  He  urges 
him  not  to  be  idle,  even  though  he  should  find  that  without 
occupying  all  his  time  he  can  head  his  class  ;  and  exhorts  him 
to  read  on  a  plan  which  he  suggests,  and  to  keep  a  note-book, 
and  to  write  to  him  his  opinions  about  persons  and  events.  And 
so  he  fills  every  side  of  the  sheet;  then  crowds  an  after-thought 
into  a  corner :  "  Do  not  get  into  the  habit  of  saying  '  Church/ 
1  Ward,'  etc.,  but  say  <Dr.  Church,'  'Dr.  Ward,'  etc.  Attend  to 
this."  The  sheet  is  now  crammed,  and  not  a  word  about  the 
weather;  so  he  crosses  it  with,  aThe  heaviest  rain  for  twelve 
months.  The  cloud  was  a  small  one,  and  came  from  the  west 
on  this  (Thursday)  evening." 

On  the  Fourth  of  July  of  this  year  there  was  a  great  cele 
bration  at  Crawfordville.  It  is  remarkable  what  a  change  the 
third  part  of  a  century — which  has  brought  so  many  changes — 
has  wrought  in  the  ardor  with  which  this  anniversary  used  to 
be  celebrated,  when  men  felt  conscious  and  proud  of  their 
freedom.  It  is  an  inspiring  thing  yet  to  remember  the 
droves  of  hogs  and  sheep,  the  countless  multitudes  of  turkeys, 
chickens,  geese,  and  squirrels,  the  mountains  of  good  cheer  and 
the  rivers  of  good  drink  that  were  brought  together  to  the 
festival.  Everybody,  white  and  black,  celebrated  " Independ 
ence  Day."  Crawfordville  was  already  famous  for  her  achieve 
ments  in  this  line,  and  on  the  particular  occasion  in  hand  did 
herself  full  justice. 

Mr.  S.  Fouche"  made  an  oration,  and  Mr.  Stephens  read  the 
Declaration.  At  the  dinner  toasts  were  drunk,  of  course,  the 
regular  list  being  prepared  by  a  committee;  and  on  this  occasion 
the  preparation  fell  chiefly  upon  Mr.  Stephens.  We  quote  a 
few,  and  append  a  portion  of  Mr.  Stephens's  speech  as  reported 
in  a  Milledgeville  paper,  principally  to  illustrate  his  political 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  ]  35 

sentiments  at  the  time,  and  to  show  that  he  was  not  then  iden 
tified  with  any  party,  and  that  when  he  sided  with  the  Whigs 
in  1840,  it  was  only  a  choice  between  what  he  considered  two 
evils. 

Toast  No.  3  was  :  "  The  President  of  the  United  States*  'An 
inheritance  is  easily  gotten  in  the  beginning,  but  the  end  thereof 
shall  not  be  established."5  This  quotation  from  Scripture  was 
received  with  three  cheers. 

Toast  No.  4  was:  "George  M.  Troup,  Georgia's  favorite  son, 
and  her  candidate  for  the  next  Presidency ;"  greeted  with  nine 
cheers. 

Toast  No.  8  might  seem  now  to  have  been  prophetic.  The 
President  was  suspected  of  a  disposition  to  increase  the  army ; 
but  few  men  there  that  day — perhaps  none  but  the  framer  of 
the  toast — felt  any  apprehension  on  that  score.  It  ran  :  "  The 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States.  While  on  land  and  sea 
they  guard  our  rights  from  foreign  tyranny  and  domestic  ag 
gression,  may  they  ever  continue  amenable  to  the  civil  power 
of  the  laws !  thus  preserving  the  lustre  of  their  laurels  and  the 
confidence  of  their  fellow-citizens." 

Toast  No.  9  was :  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The 
charter  of  the  rights  of  the  American  people,  emanating  from  a 
spirit  of  wisdom  and  conciliation.  With  a  strict  construction 
we  hold  and  will  defend  it,  the  legacy  of  our  heroic  ancestors." 
This  shows  how  decisively  Mr.  Stephens  had  at  this  time 
espoused  the  doctrine  of  strict  construction. 

After  the  voluntary  toasts  had  begun,  Chesley  Bristow,  the 
old  and  respected  clerk  of  the  court,  who  was  always  fond  of 
"  little  Aleck,"  as  he  called  him,  read — or,  as  the  dinner  was 
now  somewhat  advanced,  probably  had  read  for  him — the 
following : 

"  The  Reader  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence:  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Taliaferro's  native  son.  By  the  fearless  discharge 
of  his  public  duties  he  has  done  much,  during  our  late  legis 
lative  conflicts,  to  obtain  honors  for  himself  and  have  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  his  constituents." 

*  Martin  Van  Bnren. 


136  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

"After  the  cheering  had  subsided,"  says  the  Recorder,  "Mr.  Stephens 
arose  in  response.  .  .  .  He  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  history,  character,  posi 
tion,  principles,  and  objects  of  the  Whig  and  the  Administration  parties, 
sparing  neither,  nothing  extenuating,  nor  setting  down  aught  in  malice. 
While  he  held  up  the  Whigs  as  embodying  the  reviving  spirit  of  the  old 
Nationals,  he  showed  the  leaders  of  the  Administration  party  to  be  the 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing  who  have  crept  into  the  ranks  of  the  Republicans, 
by  which  that  party  is  now  literally  scattered  abroad,  without  any  concert 
of  action  or  any  common  head,  as  sheep  indeed  without  a  shepherd.  That 
they  were  the  Judas-like  traitors  by  whom,  for  the  spoils  of  office,  the  Repub 
licans  had  been  deceived  and  betrayed.  They  had  been  confided  in  by  the 
people  upon  their  professions  of  opposition  to  the  Tariff,  and  when  proved  in 
person,  were  the  first  to  attempt  its  enforcement  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
They  were  among  the  loudest  in  their  cry  for  retrenchment  and  reform, 
and  promised  the  people,  if  entrusted  with  the  power,  to  carry  out  these 
great  measures,  while  they  have  increased  the  expenses  of  the  Government 
from  a  little  over  eleven  to  nearly  forty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum! 
They  were  loud  against  a  subsidized  press  and  Executive  interference  with 
elections,  while,  since  their  promotion,  they  have  taken  the  lead,  far  beyond 
all  precedence,  in  those  abuses,  and  openly  defend  and  justify  their  course. 
They  made  common  cause  with  .the  State  banks  in  demolishing  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  then  turned  against  them  with  the  cry  of  divorce!* 
when  their  whole  object  was  to  divorce  the  public  money  from  the  banks, 
it  is  true,  but  to  their  own  pockets.  He  was  in  favor  of  divorces  some 
times,  but  not  from  one  to  another  adulterous  bed.  That  these  leaders 
profess  to  be  the  only  true  Republicans  and  standards  of  Democracy,  while 
many  of  their  members  are  known  to  have  been  ultra-Federalists,  and  even 
Hartford  Conventionists.  They  profess  to  be  the  only  guardians  of  the 
people's  rights,  when  they  give  the  most  important  fiduciary  trusts  to 
notorious  bankrupts  in  fame  and  in  fortune,  and  for  years  ask  not  even  a 
bond  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty  ;  thus  permitting  their  sub- 
treasurers  to  pocket  for  themselves,  or  spend  for  the  benefit  of  the  party, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  public  funds,  and  then,  after  taking  a  gen 
tlemanly  leave  of  the  country,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  their  days  in 
splendor  in  foreign  climes.  They  profess  now  to  be  the  friends  of  the 
South,  and  only  hope  for  the  protection  of  our  institutions,  while  many  of 
them  are  the  warm  advocates  of  free  negro  suffrage,  and  their  Magnus 
Apollo  himself  is  a  Missouri  Restrictionist.  That  such  a  party,  so  marked 
with  every  badge  of  corruption,  falsehood,  and  treachery,  should  be  utterly 
spurned  by  a  free  people.  He  deprecated  the  day  when  we  should  be 
driven  to  the  necessity — the  forced  choice — of  appealing  to  such  men  foi 
the  protection  and  salvation  of  our  liberties.  .  .  .  That  two  parties  are 

*  "The  divorce  of  Bank  and  State"  was  one  of  the  catch-words  of  the 
Van  Buren  party. 


LIFE   OF   ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  137 

now  courting  an  alliance  with  our  State ;  and  never  was  fair  maiden  more 
artfully  allured  by  the  wiles  of  seduction  than  was  the  integrity  of  the 
State  now  assailed  by  these  political  suitors.  .  .  .  The  one  is  a  known 
enemy,  the  other  a  traitor  to  our  cause.  It  is  no  question  upon  which  we 
should  take  sides  or  make  any  capitulations  ;  nor  should  we  suffer  ourselves 
as  Georgians  to  be  forced  into  a  choice  as  between  such  evils.  Either  is 
death  to  our  principles ;  and  we  should  uncompromisingly  wage  war 
again st~botB.  Though  we  be  in  the  minority,  let  us  be  the  Spartan  band. 
Self-defence  is  the  first  law  of  our  nature, — and  the  nearest  enemy  always 
first.  After  the  extermination  of  the  present  occupant  of  the  field,  if 
another  make  his  appearance,  we  can  again  rally  to  the  onset.  The  price 
of  liberty  is  not  only  'eternal  vigilance,'  but  continual  warfare;  and  if 
we  are  to  have  an  executioner,  for  our  own  and  for  our  country's  sake,  let 
us  at  least  leave  it  for  others  to  provide  him  !  The  speaker  concluded  with 
this  sentiment:  i  Henry  Clay  and  Martin  Van  Bur  en:  candidates  for  the 
next  Presidency.  When  the  strife  is  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  the 
patriot  should  rally  to  the  standard  of  neither.''  (Much  cheering.)" 

'7 

We  have  given  this  extract  a>'considerable  length,  not  only 
for  its  eloquence  and  scmnd  policy^  but  as  clearly  illustrating 
Mr.  Stephens's  position  at  the  time.  He  has  often  been  charged 
with  abandoning  u  his  party/'  but  the  truth  is  that  he  has  always 
been  independent  of  party.  We  here  see  that  he  was  at  once 
hostile  to  the  administration  of  Van  Buren  and  opposed  to  the 
election  of  Clay.  George  M.  Troup,  the  great  Governor  who 
had  so  effectually  resisted  the  encroachments  of  Mr.  Adams's 
administration  and  stood  squarely  upon  the  platform  of  State- 
rights,  was  his  favorite ;  and  he  was  extremely  anxious  that  this 
gentleman  should  receive  the  nomination.  But  Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  the  existing  occupant  of  the  chair;  and  if  he  could  not  get 
his  favorite  leader,  Mr.  Stephens  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
to  follow  any  other  who  showed  the  ability  to  vanquish  the 
administration. 

It  was  much  the  same  state  of  things  as  in  his  pamphlet 
controversy  of  1837.  Not  being  a  partisan,  he  approved  such 
measures  of  President  Jackson  as  he  thought  just,  and  con 
demned  the  others.  In  his  eyes  the  President's  dealing  with 
the  Un.ited  States  Bank  was  right,  and  deserved  to  have  the 
approbation  of  the  country.  As  for  his  Proclamation,  Mr. 
Stephens  saw  much  to  condemn  in  it,  and  he  utterly  and  with 
out  reservation  condemned  the  Force  Bill.  While  he  rejected 


138  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

as  fallacious  and  inconsistent  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  he 
firmly  believed  in  the  right  of  secession.  But  these  distinctions 
close  party-men  could  not  see,  or  if  they  saw,  did  not  approve; 
and  thus  Mr.  Stephens  has  met  the  fate  which  attends  every 
public  man  who  pursues  an  independent  course  in  politics,  and 
judges  every  measure  simply  on  its  own  merits, — the  fate  of 
being  charged  with  unfaithfulness  to  his  party.  So  far  from 
regretting  this,  however,  it  has  always  been  a  matter  of  pride 
to  him,  as  demonstrating  his  consistent  integrity  of  purpose. 

The  sentiments  expressed  at  the  meeting,  so  far  as  that  may 
be  considered  an  exponent  of  the  views  of  the  South,  showed 
that  the  South  was  not  yet  ready,  even  after  the  experience  of 
Van  Buren's  administration,  to  give  a  hearty  support  to  Clay. 
The  opposition  was  in  a  transition  state,  it  is  true,  but  it  had 
not  yet  reached  the  point  where  it  could  accept,  or  even  close  its 
eyes  to,  the  centralizing  proclivities  of  the  distinguished  Ken- 
tuckian  ;  so  the  different  sections  of  the  party  united  upon  Gen 
eral  Harrison,  unfortunate  as  was  the  necessity  of  fighting  the 
administration  under  a  leader  of  uncertain  politics.  This  resolve 
taken,  though  the  nominee  of  the  South  was  far  from  being  the 
leader  whom  Mr.  Stephens  would  have  preferred,  he  at  once 
made  his  choice  between  the  two,  and  brought  into  the  campaign 
all  the  energy  and  talent  of  which  he  was  master. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  he  was  again  a  candidate  for  the  Legis 
lature,  and  was  soon  drawn  into  animated  controversy  on  the 
questions  of  the  day.  The  State-Rights  party  was  then  divided 
on  various  points  of  general  policy,  but  especially  on  the  Na 
tional  Bank  and  Tariff  questions.  Those  who,  whatever  their 
objections  to  these  measures,  thought  that  the  advantages  derived 
from  the  Union  more  than  counterbalanced  them,  and  were 
willing  to  continue  the  existing  state  of  things,  took  the  name 
of  Whigs. 

The  Whig  party,  at  the  outset  of  the  coming  campaign, 
looked  to  Mr.  Clay  as  their  leader,  and  it  was  generally  thought 
he  would  receive  the  nomination,  but  his  views  leaned  rather 
more  toward  centralization  than  was  acceptable  to  the  South. 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  candidate  of  the  Northern  Democrats,  had 
been  unpopular  at  the  South  after  his  supposed  intrigue  in 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  139 

breaking  up  Jackson's  cabinet  in  the  first  term  of  that  Presi 
dent  ;  yet  many  of  the  leaders,  even  of  the  State-Rights  party, 
began  seriously  to  consider  whether  on  the  whole  he  was  not  a 
better  candidate  than  Mr.  Clay.  Taliaferro  County  was  almost 
unanimously  of  the  Jeffersonian  State-Rights  party,  and  the 
candidates  for  the  Legislature  presented  by  this  party  there  were 
two  very  intelligent  gentlemen,  Mr.  Simpson  Fouche  and  Dr. 
Lawrence,  the  former  being  an  adherent  of  the  nullification 
doctrine,  who  was  now  starting  the  discussion  in  advance,  with 
the  view  of  getting  the  State  committed  to  Van  Buren.  The 
opposing  candidates  were  Mr.  Stephens  and  Mr.  John  Chapman. 

A  spirited  contest  ensued,  during  which  Mr.  Fouche  exerted 
all  his  energies  to  defeat  Mr.  Stephens  and  break  down  his 
rapidly-growing  influence.  This  contest  was  rendered  more 
animated  by  the  fact  that  the  State-Rights  party  was  gradually 
shifting  its  ground ;  and  the  voters  were  desirous  to  know  the 
position  which  the  candidates  proposed  to  take  in  the  succeeding 
Presidential  election,  and  to  learn  their  precise  views  on  all  the 
important  questions  of  the  day.  A  question  of  considerable 
prominence  at  the  time  was  the  Liquor  License  Law,  one  of  the 
many  attempts  which  from  time  to  time  are  made,  and  always 
fruitlessly,  to  suppress  social  vice  by  legislation. 

The  citizens  of  Fair  Play,  a  village  in  the  eastern  section  of 
the  county,  called  upon  the  candidates  to  express  their  views  on 
these  various  points  openly,  either  by  letter  or  public  address; 
and  to  this  end  a  public  dinner  was  given  at  this  place  on  the 
15th  of  August,  at  which  the  candidates  and  other  public  men 
were  present,  and  there  was  some  lively  speaking,  in  the  course 
of  which  Mr.  Fouche  let  fall  some  sarcastic  expressions  which 
seemed  to  Mr.  Stephens  to  have  a  personal  bearing  upon  him 
self.  A  correspondence  followed,  which,  for  a  while,  seemed  to 
threaten  serious  results,  but  finally  the  matter  was  amicably 
adjusted.  At  the  election-day,  notwithstanding  a  strong  and 
active  opposition,  Messrs.  Stephens  and  Chapman  were  elected 
by  large  majorities.  Early  in  the  next  year  Mr.  Fouche  took 
the  field  in  person  against  Mr.  Harris  for  the  Senate,  but  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Transition  of  the  State-Eights  Party — Error  of  the  Georgians — Law  Busi 
ness — Letters  to  Linton — Views  on  Scholarship,  Aristocracy,  and  the 
Devil — Literary  Criticism — Keligious  Beliefs — Visit  to  the  Gold  Kegion 
— Political  Parties. 

THE  transition  of  the  State-Rights  party,  leading  to  its  co 
alition  with  the  Northern  Democrats,  went  on  with  increasing 
rapidity  in  the  early  part  of  1840.  An  extract  from  a  letter  of 
Mr.  Stephens,  of  a  much  later  date,  will  show  his  views  on  the 
subject. 

"  I  was  opposed  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  but  was  also 
opposed  to  the  support  of  Harrison.  I  wanted  the  State-Rights  party  of 
Georgia  to  stand  by  the  nomination  of  George  M.  Troup,  which  I  had  con 
siderably  contributed  in  getting  the  men  of  that  party  in  the  Legislature 
of  1839  to  make.  But  in  the  summer  of  1840  a  convention  of  the  party 
was  held  at  Milledgeville,  assembling  the  first  Monday  in  June  ;  and  this 
convention  withdrew  the  nomination  of  Troup  and  declared  for  Harrison. 
I  was  not  in  the  convention.  I  acquiesced,  though  I  thought  it  bad  pol 
icy.  There  were  but  two  candidates  in  the  field,  Harrison  and  Van  Buren  : 
I  preferred  Harrison  as  the  choice  of  evils.  Indeed,  the  greatest  objection 
I  had  to  Harrison's  nomination  was  the  political  alliances  it  would  bring 
about.  Him  I  considered  sound  enough  on  all  political  and  constitutional 
questions  ;  but  his  supporters  generally  at  the  North  were  the  old  Central 
ists  and  Consolidationists,  known  in  1800  as  Federalists.  Still,  as  all  the 
vital  questions  were  ignored,  or  nearly  so,  in  the  canvass,  and  as  upon  the 
financial  questions  of  the  day  I  agreed,  in  the  main,  with  him  and  his  sup 
porters,  I  acquiesced  and  supported  him.  It  was,  however,  in  my  present 
opinion  [1868],  a  great  error.  It  was  a  political  blunder  on  the  part  of  the 
leaders  and  other  men  of  the  party.  I  was  too  young  to  be  charged  with 
even  an  error  of  judgment  in  going  with  them  under  the  circumstances. 
Had  I  had  more  experience,  I  never  should  have  done  it." 

"We  have  not  spoken  much  of  Mr.  Stephens's  law  business. 

He  had  for  some  time  now  been  in  full  practice,  and  was  counted 

one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State.     The  reputation  he  had 

acquired  for  not  only  personal  but  professional  integrity,  served 

140 


LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER   H,  STEPHENS.  141 

to  give  him  an  influence  upon  juries  which  was  probably  greater 
than  that  ever  possessed  by  any  lawyer  in  the  State.  Whenever 
he  solemnly  asserted  his  belief  in  any  fact  or  principle,  all  men 
were  assured  of  his  sincerity,  and  therefore  he  always  had  the  full 
benefit  of  his  opinions.  In  Taliaferro  County  especially,  none  of 
his  professional  brethren  ever  approached  him  in  this  respect,  ex 
cept  perhaps  Mr.  Toombs,  whose  career  was  as  high  and  manly 
throughout  as  that  of  any  lawyer  who  ever  lived.  These  two 
friends  seemed  always  to  desire  to  be  associated  whenever  pos 
sible,  and  were  seldom  found  engaged  on  opposing  sides.  Their 
friendship  was  of  the  sort  which  shunned  even  the  possibility 
of  a  wound  which  might  happen  in  the  excitement  of  forensic 
antagonism. 

Perhaps  their  great  dissimilarity  was  one  link  between  them. 
One  was  prudent,  patient,  and  persuasive ;  the  other  ardent,  im 
petuous,  even  apparently  imperious.  The  one  exposed  his  case 
in  all  its  minutest  bearings,  and  then  persuaded  the  jury  to  find 
for  the  right.  The  other,  seldom  delaying  on  minor  points, 
seized  upon  the  most  important,  showed  them  the  truth  in  a 
vivid  light,  and  defied  them  to  disregard  it.  Juries  found  for 
the  one  because  he  led  them  kindly  but  irresistibly  to  his  con 
clusions;  they  found  for  the  other  because  they  could  not  endure 
his  indignation.  And  when  these  men  were  both  on  one  side, 
their  client  was  as  well  defended  as  it  was  possible  to  be  in  any 
court  of  justice  in  the  country. 

The  letters  which  Mr.  Stephens  wrote  to  Linton  while  the 
latter  was  at  college,  give  a  pleasing  view  of  his  inner  life.  They 
are  usually  very  long.  He  felt  for  his  brother  an  affection  more 
like  that  of  a  tender  father  for  a  beloved  son  than  that  which 
usually  subsists  between  brothers.  Few  men  have  ever  written 
to  a  single  correspondent  in  the  period  of  a  long  life  as  much  as 
he  wrote  to  this  one  brother  during  thirty  years.  This  corre 
spondence  would  fill  many  volumes.  We  shall  extract  from  them 
so  much  as  we  need  to  fill  up  the  narrative  of  events  or  illus 
trate  the  character  of  the  man. 

Linton's  vacation  being  now  over,  he  had  returned  to  college. 
His  brother's  first  letter  was  of  January  26th,  1 840.  A  fter  speak 
ing  of  family  matters,  which  he  usually  gives  in  detail,  even  men- 


142  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

tioning  the  servants,  their  ailments  or  mishaps,  he  adverts  to  a 
young  kinsman  of  theirs  who  was  thinking  of  quitting  school 
rather  prematurely,  and  remarks  : 

"  Perhaps  it  is  as  well.     The  poet  says : 

'A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing: 
Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring.' 

There  is  as  much  truth  as  satire  in  the  couplet.  To  be  a  smatterer,  to 
learn  enough  only  to  imbibe  the  errors  of  the  world  and  to  become  puffed 
up  and  inflated  with  the  conceit  of  self-importance,  is  no  less  ruinous  to 
the  unfortunate"  subject  than  disgusting  to.  the  whole  circle  of  his  equally 
unfortunate  acquaintance.  To  be  a  scholar,  to  place  oneself  above  the 
common  level,  to  ascend  the  steep  of  science  and  climb  the  rugged  cliff  of 
fame,  require  energy,  resolution,  time,  self-denial,  patience,  and  ambition. 
These  are  not  the  qualities  of  a  fickle  brain,  but  the  attributes  of  genius. 
He  that  possesses  them,  by  disciplining  them,  and  by  subjecting  them  to 
mild  obedience  to  his  own  master-spirit  (and  this  is  knowledge,  the  very 
perfection  of  education),  can  control  not  only  his  own  destiny,  but  that  of 
others." 

He  closes  thus : 

"  Good-by,  and  let  me  hear  of  your  doing  well.  Fortune  is  a  web,  and 
every  man  weaves  for  himself." 

The  next  letter  is  of  February  2d,  in  answer  to  one  just 
received.  He  praises  the  spirit  of  candor  which  he  thinks  he 
discovers  in  his  ward  : 

"  There  is  no  virtue  in  the  human  character  nobler  than  candor, — plain, 
real,  unsophisticated  candor.  It  is  the  legitimate  offspring  of  truth,  and 
always  begets  independence." 

Presently  he  adds  a  caution  against  excessive  ambition.  He 
has  been  encouraging  his  ward  so  persistently  to  aim  high,  to 
look  forward  to  a  career  not  only  of  virtue  and  usefulness,  but 
of  distinction,  that  he  thinks  perhaps  a  little  counterpoise  may 
be  advisable.  He  quotes  from  Shakspeare,  cites  Byron's  lines 
on  Kirke  White,  and  then  illustrates  from  Bulwer  the  effects  of 
inordinate  ambition.  This  leads  into  a  little  talk  about  aris 
tocracy  : 

"There  is  one  kind  of  aristocracy  that  I  despise  equally  with  yourself; 
but  another  kind  I  greatly  admire.  The  first  is  the  aristocracy  of  wealth 
and  fashion.  That  is  contemptible.  The  other  is  the  aristocracy  (the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

ariston  kratos]  of  lionor,  principle,  good  breeding,  and  education,  that 
awards  distinction,  not  to  birth  or  fortune,  but  to  merit  and  principles. 
This  is  the  aristocracy  of  nature,  and  is  cast  by  no  hereditary  descent,  but 
is  the  impress  given  by  fortune  to  her  favorite  children." 

Ill  the  next  letter  (February  28th)  he  has  much  to  say  about 
the  doctrine  of  the  Universal ists.  AYe  give  an  extract : 

u  In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Universalists  you  allude  to  in  your 
letter,  and  particularly  that  part  wherein  you  request  my  opinion,  I  will 
only  say,  without  entering  fully  into  the  subject,  that  I  do  not  agree  with 
the  belief  that  '  there  is  no  personal  devil  or  fallen  spirit,  and  that  what  is 
commonly  called  the  Devil  is  no  more  than  the  inclination  of  man  to  do 
evil.'  What  I  mean  by  a  personal  devil  is  an  evil  spirit  or  a  spiritual 
intelligence  apostate  and  fallen.  There  are  doubtless  many  spiritual  in- 
telligcncies  besides  the  Deity.  Some  are  pure  and  holy :  others  are  of 
opposite  nature,  being  evil,  rebellious,  and  disobedient." 

And  the  letter  continues  with  a  further  exposition  of  his  views 
on  dsemonology, — dim  regions  into  which  we  will  not  follow  him. 
He  comes  back  to  firm  ground  after  awhile,  and  concludes  with 
an  urgent  recommendation  of  regular  and  sufficient  bodily  exer 
cise  ;  probably — though  he  does  not  say  as  much — a  more  effi 
cient  exorcism  against  cacodsemons  than  is  commonly  supposed. 

On  April  5th  he  tells  his  brother  that  the  court  is  over,  and 
though  almost  broken  down  by  continual  work,  he  is  preparing 
to  go  to  Warren  Court.  The  wife  of  a  neighbor  has  died  the 
day  before,  and  he  moralizes  on  the  balance  of  good  and  evil, 
happiness  and  misery,  in  the  world,  though  acknowledging  in 
all  the  arrangement  and  economy  of  a  wise  and  merciful  Provi 
dence.  Then  we  have  some  literary  criticism :  Linton  has 
mentioned  that  he  has  been  reading  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii : 

"  It  is  a  work  of  great  merit,  though  it  hardly  does  justice  to  the  early 
Christians.  In  that  particular  its  greatest  defect  consists.  I  think  Bulwer 
in  one  sense  greatly  Scott's  superior  in  novel-writing.  His  mind  is  of  a 
higher  order :  he  is  more  profound  and  metaphysical, — in  a  word,  more 
Platonic,  while  Scott  is  easier,  more  descriptive,  and  can  deal  successfully 
with  a  much  greater  variety  of  characters.  Scott's  best  characters — that 
is,  the  best  drawn — are  his  lowest  ;  Bulwer  s  are  his  highest" 

The  letter  concludes  by  recommending  as  the  next  book  of 
the  kind  to  be  read,  Old  Mortality,  and  this  for  the  sake  of 
getting  acquainted  with  "  Cuddie." 


144  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

On  May  5th  we  find  him  approaching,  very  delicately,  the  sub 
ject  of  religion,  elicited  by  an  inquiry  on  the  part  of  his  brother. 
He  speaks  of  the  cultivation  and  chastisement  of  the  affections 
and  subjugation  .of  the  natural  propensities,  bringing  the  entire 
nature  into  mild  subjection  to  the  benign  and  exalted  principles 
of  pure  Christianity. 

"  This  is  true  religion  :  a  change  of  heart  from  evil  to  good,  a  renewal 
of  the  soul  from  low  and  grovelling  desires  to  an  expanded  and  enlarged 
love  for  the  universe  and  an  unbounded  reverence  for  its  Author.  To 
worship  is  the  natural  prompting  after  regeneration,  that  process  by  which, 
in  a  mysterious  way,  the  depraved  nature  of  fallen  man  is  exchanged  and 
purified  by  the  exercise  of  a  saving  faith  in  Christ  the  Redeemer  and 
Mediator." 

He  presently  concludes  this  topic,  which  he  will  not  press  too 
far  just  now,  with  the  words : 

"  The  subject  of  religion  I  have  seldom  alluded  to  in  my  communications 
with  you,  either  by  word  or  letter.  The  principle  on  which  I  acted  re 
quired  me,  I  believe,  to  pursue  such  a  course.  Perhaps  hereafter  I  may 
dwell  more  at  large  upon  the  subject." 

In  his  letter  of  June  2d  he  reverts  to  the  subject,  thus: 

11 1  never  like  to  be  a  lecturer^  or  to  give  advice,  because  I  am  so  sensible 
of  my  own  errors  and  imperfections  5  and  this  is  why  I  have  said  so  little 
to  you  on  subjects  of  religion,  morality,  and  piety.  But  I  trust  you  will 
not  think  the  less  of  them  yourself,  or  be  more  remiss  in  your  action.  If 
I  have  said  nothing,  it  is  not  because  I  feel  nothing.  I  do  hope,  therefore, 
that  you  will  not  even  trust  yourself  to  your  own  judgment  or  caution, 
but  ask  assistance  from  one  who  is  able  to  direct  you,  daily.  I  believe  in 
a  special  Providence.  Of  all  Christian  virtues,  cultivate  humility,  meek 
ness,  and  a  spirit  of  dependence  upon  the  great  Ruler  of  the  universe  for 
'every  good  and  perfect  gift.'"  .  .  ,  "The  world  is  transitory  at  best, 
and  there  is  little  in  it  worth  living  for  but  the  bright  prospect  it  affords 
of  a  blessed  immortality.  Its  hopes  are  delusive,  its  honors  are  vain,  its 
pleasures  are  empty." 

Mr.  Stephens  then  had  scarcely  an  acquaintance  who  would 
not  have  been  surprised  to  know  that  he  thus  spoke  of  spiritual 
and  earthly  things  to  his  younger  brother.  While  his  whole 
conduct  and  deportment  had  always  been  consistent  with  the 
principles  of  a  high  and  pure  morality,  few,  even  of  his  intimate 
friends,  supposed  that  his  inward  thoughts  were  much  occupied 
with  the  subject  of  religion.  But  when  let  behind  the  veil  of 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  145 

his  habitual  reticence,  through  the  medium  of  these  most  confi 
dential  revealings  of  his  hidden  nature,  we  can  see  how  much 
and  how  earnestly  he  has  thought  upon  these  solemn  questions, 
how  strong  are  his  religious  convictions,  how  deep  is  his  rever 
ence  for  the  Deity,  and  how  absolute  his  belief  of  the  importance 
of  His  constant  interposition  in  man's  behalf. 

There  is  now  some  intermission  in  these  letters.  The  writer 
went  on  a  tour  with  Mr.  T.  Chaffin  to  visit  the  gold  mines  of 
Cherokee,  where  the  latter  gentleman  owned  a  number  of -lots. 
The  travellers  examined  the  region,  and  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  very  rich  in  minerals.  They  called  upon  an  old 
friend,  too, — Dr.  Foster,  who  had  removed  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  whom  they  found  just  recovering  from  a  broken 
leg.  A  short  note  dropped  in  Athens  on  the  return  gives  a  flat 
tering  account  of  Harrison's  prospects  in  the  Cherokee  country. 

The  Presidential  contest  was  now  narrowed  down  to  the  two 
candidates,  Van  Buren  and  Harrison.  All  the  State-Rights 
delegation  from  Georgia  in  Congress,  except  Cooper,  Colquitt, 
and  Black,  sided  with  the  latter,  and  the  whole  party  followed. 
Mr.  Stephens,  as  we  have  seen,  while  not  approving  the  nomi 
nation  of  Harrison,  preferred  him  to  his  competitor,  and  having 
given  him  his  support,  went  actively  into  the  canvass. 

In  his  letter  to  Linton  of  August  2d,  he  treats  the  subject  of 
politics  at  some  length  in  reply  to  an  inquiry.  We  extract : 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  Government  under  the  new  organization,  in 
1787  and  1788,  all  who  were  in  favor  of  ratification  of  the  Constitution, 
or  were  friendly  to  the  compact  or  Foedus  as  it  was  called,  assumed  the  name 
of  Federalists.  Those  who  opposed  took  the  various  names  of  Anti-Fed 
eralists.  Democrats,  Republicans,  etc.  At  that  time  Madison  and  Jefferson 
were  known  as  Federalists,  or  friends  to  the  Constitution.  Patrick  Henry 
and  many  other  noble  sons  of  Virginia  were  opposed  to  it.  After  the 
Constitution,  however,  was  ratified,  and  the  Government  went  into  opera 
tion,  many  measures  were  proposed  which  some  of  the  friends  of  the 
Constitution  thought  were  not  authorized  by  that  instrument,  and  which, 
if  carried  out,  would  centralize  all  power  in  the  General  Government  to 
the  subversion  of  the  States.  That  class  of  course  fell  into  the  ranks  of 
the  Republicans.  Among  these  were  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  and 
many  others,  while  Patrick  Henry  and  others  fell  into  the  ranks  of  the 
Federals,  saying  that  these  powers  of  which  the  others  were  complaining 
were  granted  in  the  Constitution,  and  it  was  then  too  late  to  raise  the 

10 


146  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

complaint ;  that  they  had  warned  them  of  the  danger,  and  foretold  these 
consequences.  It  was  now  too  late :  the  Constitution  was  established,  and 
the  country  had  to  abide  by  it.  Many  of  the  measures  of  the  Federalists 
of  that  time — say  from  1790  to  1800 — were  no  doubt  good  ones,  while 
others  were  truly  obnoxious,  particularly  the  one  against  Aliens,  and  one 
upon  the  subject  of  Sedition.  It  was  those  measures  which  showed  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  party  to  the  grasping  of  power  that 
caused  the  overthrow  of  that  party  in  1800  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 
.  .  .  Considering  the  merits  of  even  the  most  obnoxious  measures  of 
those  days,  apart  from  all  party  and  personal  bearing,  just  as  you  would 
look  at  the  laws  of  ancient  nations,  I  believe  that  there  is  not  a  great  deal 
more  to  censure  in  them  than  in  many  of  the  laws  we  have  had  passed  in 
much  later  times.  The  patriotism,  however,  of  those  men  who  were  called 
Federalists,  even  at  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  no  man  can  doubt.  They 
were  among  the  earliest  and  most  devoted  friends  and  movers  of  the  Revo 
lution,  and  were  the  master-spirits  that  struggled  for  our  independence. 
They  were  all  no  doubt  friends  to  good  government ;  but  differed,  as  men 
always  will,  as  to  the  best  methods  and  medium  of  administering  it.  It 
is  true  that  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  Ana  (some  notes  in  the  end  of  his  works) 
intimates  that  a  large  party  then  existed  in  the  country  favorable  to  a 
monarchy.  But  for  my  own  part  I  do  not  believe  one  word  of  it.  His 
aim  was  at  Hamilton ;  but  he  was,  in  point  of  intellect,  integrity,  and 
patriotism,  high  above  all  such  suspicions.  Jefferson  even  intimates 
openly,  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  Washington  was  aspiring  to  a  throne. 
With  Hamilton's  notions  of  government  I  do  not  agree;  but  that  he  was 
in  favor  of  changing  it  to  a  kingly  government,  none,  I  think,  would 
pretend  to  believe  who  knows  anything  of  his  opinions  of  the  formation 
of  the  Constitution.  He  was  truly  a  great  man,  but  his  theories  did  not 
suit  the  genius  of  our  institutions." 

From  this  he  passes  to  comment  on  something  Linton  has 
told  him  about  some  trouble  Mr.  Baker,  with  whom  they  are 
boarding,  has  had  with  his  landlord,  Apropos  of  which  he  quotes 
Burns — a  favorite  poet  of  his,  by  the  way.  Then  winds  up 
with  a  dream : 

"  I  dreamed  last  night  you  were  dead  ;  and,  though  no  believer  in 
dreams,  have  nevertheless  all  day  been  more  or  less  under  the  influence 
of  this  strange  phantom." 

Letters  follow  in  which  he  criticises  his  brother's  style  in 
writing,  gives  him  advice  about  his  college  duties,  discusses  the 
merits  of  Scott  and  Bulwer,  and  treats  of  other  matters.  He 
has  been  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  having  Dr.  Lawrence 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  147 

again  for  an  opponent,  and  on  the  5th  of  October  he  gives  the 
result  of  the  election,  in  which  he  received  362  votes  and  the 
rival  candidate  68.  "  I  have  never  received  so  large  a  vote  in 
the  county  before." 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  this  year  that  Mr.  Johnston  first  heard 
him  speak  in  public.  The  Hon.  Eugenius  Nisbet  being  on  a 
visit  to  Powelton,  at  the  request  of  the  citizens,  addressed  them 
on  political  topics.  Mr.  Stephens  was  one  of  his  auditors,  and 
when  Mr.  NisbeLhad  concluded,  he  requested  the  latter  to  make 
some  remarks.  M\Ir.  Stephens  spoke  for  some  time,  with  that 
persuasive  earnestness,  simple  dignity,  and  charm  of  manner 
which  have  earned  him  such  deserved  celebrity  as  an  oratorj 
His  appearance  differed  in  nothing  from  what  it  was  in  1832. 
His  physical  development  seemed  to  progress  more  tardily  than 
other  men's ;  he  had  still  the  youthful  looks  of  a  mere  stripling, 
and  it  was  only  about  this  time,  though  he  had  reached  his 
thirtieth  year,  that  he  attained  his  full  stature. 


CHAPTER    XY. 

Declines  Ke-nomination  to  the  Legislature— Letters  to  Linton — Philosophy 
of  Living — Death  of  President  Harrison — Advice  to  Linton — Serious  Ill 
ness — Election'  to  State  Senate — Reports  of  Committees — The  Tariff  of 
1842 — Breach  of  the  Compromise  of  1833 — Debate  on  Federal  Relations 
—The  Minority  Report — Principles  of  the  Georgia  Whigs — Resolutions. 

IN  the  year  1841  Mr.  Stephens  was  less  occupied  with  polit 
ical  matters,  having  declined  to  run  for  the  Legislature.  His 
health  improved  to  some  degree,  but  his  old  enemy,  dyspepsia, 
and  .the  excruciating  headaches  it  occasioned,  still  tormented 
him.  His  time  was  entirely  engaged  in  his  legal  business,  of 
which  he  had  all  that  he  could  possibly  attend  to.  The  biog 
raphy  of  this  year,  therefore,  must  be  entirely  drawn  from  his 
letters  to  his  brother,  who  was  still  at  college. 

On  February  14th  we  find  him  moralizing  on  the  uncertainty 
of  human  affairs  and  the  vicissitudes  of  life ;  a  train  of  thought 
brought  on  by  the  death  of  his  old  friend,  William  Le  Conte, 
a  fact  of  which  Linton  had  informed  him.  He  says : 

"  Remember  me  to  Louis  and  Joseph  Le  Conte.     I  much  sympathize 

with  them  in  their  late  bereavement.     Their  brother  was  one  of  my  most 

beloved  and  esteemed  friends,  \jllis  departure  is  another  evidence  of  the 

/fleeting  and  transient  nature  of  all  things  connected  with  this  life's  hopes 

/   and  expectations.  J  Little  did  I  think  last  fall  in  Milledgeville,  when  I 

shook  the  hand  that  I  had  often  shaken  both  in  parting  and  greeting, 

that  it  was  for  the  last  time,  and  that  our  farewell  was  to  be  for  ever ! 

What  a  mystery  is  death — and  life  !" 

On  March  25th  he  gives  some  lessons  to  his  brother  on  the 
proper  and  profitable  way  of  reading  newspapers,  then  alludes 
to  the  will  of  an  old  gentleman  who  had  recently  died,  leaving 
a  large  property  to  an  only  son,  on  which  he  thus  philosophizes: 

"  There  is  a  philosophy  in  life  and  in  the  proper  way  of  living  that 
few  seem  to  understand.     Hence  many  who  really  are  rich  live  worse 
148 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  149 

than  some  who  are  seemingly  poor.     These  remarks  I  think  peculiarly 

applicable  to and  his  family.     The  whole  aim  of  his  life  has  been  to 

accumulate  and  save  without  any  regard  to  proper  enjoyment.  To  accu 
mulate  and  save  are  both  admirable  actions-,  but  they  should  not  be  the 
ruling  motives:  they  should  be  subservient  to  the  great  objects  of  life, — 
usefulness,  contentment,  and  happiness.  Had  he  spent  more  in  the  edu 
cation  of  his  only  son,  the  enlightenment  of  his  understanding  and  the 
refinement  of  his  manners,  and  then  left  him  much  less  of  the  properly, 
he  would  have  acted  a  much  better  part  by  him.  The  great  difficulty 
with  mankind  is  in  spending, — in  knowing  how  and  when  to  spend  their 
money." 

And  then  follows  an  earnest  condemnation  of  the  opposite 
vices  of  extreme  parsimony  and  extravagance. 

From  time  to  time  Liu  ton  has  applied  to  his  brother  for  the 
explanation  of  various  terms  used  in  political  parlance,  which 
Alexander  answers  with  extreme  punctuality  and  minuteness. 
In  this  letter  he  remembers  that  his  exposition  of  one  phrase 
has  not  been,  perhaps,  so  full  as  it  should  have  been,  anil  am 
plifies  on  the  subject : 

"  In  my  remarks  the  other  day  about  ' pre-emption,"1  I  forgot  to  say  that 
as  a  system  it  is  opposed  to  what  is  termed  the  '  distribution  plan,1  which 
is  .to  have  all  the  public  lands  sold  at  what  they  will  bring,  and  the  pro 
ceeds  distributed  among  all  the  States.  That  is  my  plan  :  I  go  for  distri 
bution.  The  land  belongs  to  all  the  States,  and  every  one  should  have  its 
portion  of  the  proceeds." 

Before  the  next  letter  (April  llth)  was  written,  a  melancholy 
event  had  happened  in  the  political  world,  in  the  death  of  Presi 
dent  Harrison  on  the  4th  of  April,  just  one  month  after  his 
inauguration.  Mr.  Stephens  thus  comments  upon  it: 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  General  Harrison  is  dead.  What  effect  it  will 
have  upon  the  country  time  alone  can  disclose.  I  look  upon  it,  however, 
as  at  this  time  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  could  have  befallen  the 
nation.  Harrison  had  the' confidence  of  the  people  of  all  sections  of  the 
Union.  /There  was  nothing  sectional,  partisan,  or  offensive  to  any  portion 
of  the  pebple  in  his  inaugural]  The  whole  country  was  calm  in  quiet  ex 
pectation  of  the  measures  to  be  proposed  by  him  at  the  opening  of  the 
called  session  of  Congress."  [Extra  session  called  for  the  last  day  of  May.] 
"  No  other  man  living  could  have  wielded  such  influence  over  public  opinion 
as  he  could,  because  he  had  the  confidence  of  the  people.  They  believed 
him  to  be,  as  he  was  indeed,  a  patriot.  I  fear  his  death  will  give  rise  to 
dissensions  and  divisions." 


150  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H,  STEPHENS. 

For  more  than  half  of  the  following  year  we  have  to  draw 
entirely  upon  the  correspondence  with  Linton.  The  earlier  part 
is  filled  with  home-news,  explanations  of  the  law-business  he 
was  engaged  in,  news  from  the  farm,  etc.  One  of  the  horses  is 
rather  wild,  and  he  is  taming  him,  and  hopes  soon  to  have  him 
aas  gentle  as  Frank  Dougherty  got  his  oxen."  This  Frank 
Dougherty,  he  explains,  was  an  old  neighbor  of  his  father's, 
who  once  had  a  yoke  of  young  and  ungovernable  oxen,  which 
he  was  very  anxious  to  sell  to  a  neighbor,  whose  only  objection 
was  that  they  were  not  gentle  enough.  So  Frank  undertook  to 
"  gentle"  them  by  keeping  them  in  the  yoke,  and  letting  them 
run  in  the  pasture.  One  day  he  brought  the  expected  purchaser 
over  to  look  at  them,  assuring  him  that  they  were  now  "  perfectly 
gentle."  They  went  down  to  the  pasture  and  found  the  oxen 
"  gentle"  indeed  :  in  their  caperings  they  had  turned  the  yoke, 
and  lay  there  with  their  necks  broken.  So  "  as  gentle  as  Frank 
Dougherty's  oxen"  became  a  joke  in  the  neighborhood. 

In  March  we  find  him  encouraging  Linton  in  the  study  of 
rhetoric,  which  the  latter  finds  difficult. 

"Rhetoric,  properly  taught,  is  one  of  the  easiest  and  most  improving 
and  useful  studies  of  a  college  course,  and  to  me  it  was  the  most  interest 
ing.  But  it  requires  some  training  to  get  in  the  right  way  of  learning  it. 
It  is  to  be  effected  by  system,  method,  and  generalization.  The  usefulness 
of  the  study  depends  mostly  upon  its  effect  upon  the  mind  in  subjecting 
it  to  system  and  method,  and  the  exercises  it  imposes  upon  the  memory. 
It  should  never  be  taught  or  learned  by  questions  and  answers.  You  might 
as  well  attempt  to  teach  the  beauties  of  a  painting  to  a  mind  unacquainted 
with  the  art  of  catching  the  perspective,  by  a  similar  system  of  interroga 
tories.  In  the  study  of  rhetoric  usefully,  the  mind  must  first  be  taught  to 
put  forth  its  strongest  faculties,  and  survey  the  entire  subject — that  is,  the 
lecture  for  any  given  recitation.  The  author's  object  being  thoroughly 
understood,  his  manner  of  treating  it.  and  his  various  subdivisions,  soon 
occur  easily  to  the  mind,  which  naturally  again  suggest  his  ideas,  and 
then  the  task  is  performed,  and  the  whole  lecture  is  indelibly  impressed 
upon  the  mind  like  a  map  or  chart  spread  out  before  you.  In  mastering 
a  lecture  in  rhetoric,  the  author's  words  should  never  be  studied  ;  if  they 
occur  readity  to  the  mind  in  reciting,  they  should  be  used ;  but  in  study 
ing,  the  memory  should  not  be  taxed  to  retain  them  ;  the  ideas,  and  the 
order  in  which  they  come  in  the  lecture,  should  be  the  task  of  the  student. 
The  ideas  he  should  convey  in  his  own  words.  For  when  he  understands 
his  author,  and  knows  what  his  ideas  are,  the  student  can  always  have 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  15] 

words  at  command  to  make  known  what  they  are.  But  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  with  a  little  practice  with  this  kind  of  study,  so  quick  does  the 
mernoiy  become,  and  so  retentive  of  an  impression,  that  the  student  will 
be  enabled  to  repeat  almost  the  identical  words  of  his  author  from  begin 
ning  to  end.  This  strengthens  the  memory,  and  imparts  vigor  to  the  mind, 
and  enables  the  faculties  to  encompass  a  whole  subject  at  once,  and  under 
stand  the  whole  and  every  part  at  the  same  time.  This  is  exceedingly  neces 
sary  for  writers  and  public  speakers.  When  a  student,  therefore,  goes  to 
recite  a  lesson  in  rhetoric,  or  moral  philosophy,  or  any  such  studies,  he 
should  know  everything  in  his  recitation,  and  be  able  forthwith  and  without 
hesitation  to  repeat,  if  called  upon,  every  idea  in  it,  just  as  he  would  toll,  if 
called  upon,  what  he  heard  a  man  say  on  any  particular  subject  on  a  given 
occasion.  As,  for  instance :  suppose  the  lesson  is  in  Blair,  and  the  subject 
is  his  lecture  on  '  Style.1  At  the  first  glance  the  mind  will  scan  his  man 
ner  of  treating  it,  commencing  with  general  remarks  about  the  diversity 
of  style  in  authors,  then  the  various  kinds  of  style,  and  then  the  rules  for 
forming  a  correct  style.  Under  the  first  head,  many  smaller  and  subordi 
nate  ideas,  where  the  general  plan  is  fixed  in  the  mind,  naturally  suggest 
themselves  with  little  or  no  effort ;  such  as,  that  all  authors  have  a  pecu 
liarity  of  style  distinctive  in  each  ;  difference  between  Livy  and  Tacitus, 
etc..  and  other  ideas  that  fill  up  that  view  5  and  the  different  kinds  of  style, 
such  as  concise  and  diffuse;  then  contrasted,  the  advantages  and  disadvan: 
tages  of  each,  and  the  instances  of  authors  distinguished  for  each,  etc., — 
which  is  all  easily  recollected  and  repeated, — that  is,  the  idea,  but  not  the 
words. — and  the  same  of  the  weak  and  nervous,  dry,  plain,  neat,  elegant, 
and  flowery,  and  then  go  on  to  the  simple,  affected,  and  vehement;  these 
made  all  distinct  in  their  order  in  the  mind,  the  filling-up,  or  the  remarks 
made  upon  each,  come  to  the  mind  almost  naturally ;  and  then  comes  the 
winding-up  of  the  subject^  the  directions  for  forming  a  correct  style,  to 
wit:  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  subject,  frequent  composition,  ac 
quaintance  witli  good  styles,  or  the  styles  of  distinguished  authors, — not, 
however, running  into  imitation. — oradaptation  of  the  style  to  the  subject 
and  occasion, — not  to  be  poetical  when  you  should  reason  ;  and,  lastly,  not 
to  permit  the  mind  to  be  too  much  engrossed  with  style  to  the  exclusion 
of  matter ;  in  other  words,  that  however  important  style  may  be,  it  should 
always  be  held  subordinate  to  ideas,  and  that  more  attention  should  be 
given  to  thoughts  and  sentiments  than  mere  style;  and  with  this  the  task 
is  performed.  And  what  is  more  easy  ?  When  once  you  get  in  the  way 
of  it,  you  will  find  it  the  easiest  study  learned.  The  mind  will  take  it 
readily,  and  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  amount  of  learning  you  can 
acquire.  To  me,  at  first,  it  appeared  very  hard,  because  I  had  nobody  to 
teach  me ;  but  when  Dr.  Olin  became  professor  and  gave  us  a  few  lectures, 
the  whole  subject  assumed  a  new  appearance,  and  the  study  became  de 
lightful  ;  and  when  I  graduated,  there  was  no  subject  in  Blair,  Paley,  Say, 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  Brown's  Moral  Philosophy,  or  Hedge's  Logic, 


152  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   //.  STEPHENS. 

that  I  could  not  have  told  everything  about  instantly,  or  as  fast  as  I  could 
have  spoken ;  and  I  could  have  commenced  at  the  beginning  of  the  cata 
logue  above  named,  and  have  given  substantially  everything  contained, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  without  interruption  or  suggestion.  The 
same  principles  of  system,  method,  and  analysis  I  brought  to  the  study 
of  law ;  and  when  I  was  admitted,  I  could  have  rehearsed  Blackstone  in 
the  same  way.  The  whole  I  attributed  to  Olin's  method  of  teaching;  and 
I  would  not  have  given  the  advantages  derived  from  that  for  all  my  col 
lege  course  besides.  It  has  been  of  more  use  to  me.  It  called  forth  all 
the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  taught  it  to  exercise  its  every  faculty.  My 
previous  instructions  were  like  keeping  a  child  forever  sliding  and  crawl 
ing  :  Olin  made  us  stand  up  and  walk.  A  little  assistance  was  at  first 
necessary,  while  the  knees  were  weak,  and  before  strength  and  confidence 
were  acquired;  but  soon  we  (I  mean  the  whole  class,  for  there  was  no 
student  in  the  class  that  did  not  understand  the  studies)  began  to  walk 
without  assistance,  and  then  to  run  and  bound,  and  become  the  perfect 
masters  of  all  our  faculties.  I  wish  you  to  adopt  the  right  method  in  these 
studies,  and  to  become  perfectly  master  of  them.  When  a  subject  is  men 
tioned,  be  able  to  give  an  outline  of  the  whole,  and  show  that  you  have 
studied  your  author,  by  being  able,  without  assistance,  to  go  on  and  tell 
what  he  says." 

He  then  answers  the  question,  what  would  be  a  suitable  sub 
ject  for  a  Junior  speech,  by  suggesting  a  comparison  between  the 
ancients  and  the  moderns,  giving  himself  a  decided  preference  to 
the  former.  Among  other  things  he  says  : 

"In  many  things  that  make  man  truly  great,  that  show  the  power 
of  his  mind,  the  boldness  of  his  conceptions,  and  the  lofty  sentiments  of 
his  soul,  I  think  the  ancients  were  greatly  our  superiors.  Look  at  their 
works,  their  temples  and  other  public  buildings,  which,  after  withstanding 
the  ravages  of  centuries,  are  yet  unequalled  by  anything  that  man  in 
subsequent  times  ever  erected.  Why,  even  the  public  roads  leading  from 
the  city  of  Rome,  constructed  before  the  Julian  day,  are  now  better  and 
more  substantial  than  any  in  the  United  States,  and  perhaps  in  England 
and  France.  Part  of  a  bridge  is  yet  standing  on  the  Danube  which  was 
built  soon  after  the  time  of  the  Caesars.  What  a  people  they  must  have 
been  to  leave  such  vestiges  behind  them  !  If  this  country  should  be  over 
run  by  savages,  what  have  we  that  would  remain  one  thousand  years  to 
tell  that  such  a  race  as  ours  ever  existed?" 

And  after  Rome,  Greece,  Persia,  Egypt,  and  Assyria  are  all 
glanced  at  in  support  of  the  writer's  thesis. 

On  June  2d  he  answers  a  letter  of  Linton's,  in  which  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  153 

Jatter  intimates  thoughts  of  getting  excused  from  speaking  at 
Commencement. 

u  I  can  simply  say  that  you  must  not  hesitate  between  speaking  and 
getting  excused.  You  must  speak,  and  you  ought  to  set  at  once  in  good 
earnest  to  writing.  There  is  nothing  a  student  is  more  apt  to  do  than  to 
postpone  the  duty  of  composition.  .  .  .  The  mind  should  never  suffer 
itself  to  grow  slothful  and  indolent.  It  is  much  easier  in  one's  business 
to  keep  ahead  of  time  than  to  keep  up  with  its  rapid  march  when  once 
thrown  ever  so  little  in  the  rear.  You  will  lose  nothing  by  having  your 
speech  well  committed,  even  a  month  before  Commencement.  It  should 
be  a  rule  of  your  life,  established  now  in  this  your  first  appearance  before 
the  public,  never  to  appear  unless  you  can  appear  well,  and  also  to 
appear  whenever  you  can  with  propriety.  'The  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffereth  violence/  saith  the  Scripture,  'and  the  violent  take  it  by  force.' 
So  it  is  with  the  world.  The  most  resolute  and  inflexible  bear  off  the 
palms  and 'crowns  in  both.  A  man's  character,  reputation,  and  distinc 
tion  are  the  works  of  his  own  hands.  In  contests  for  honorable  distinction 
ever  be  found  among  the  first  of  the  foremost.  Nihil  arduum  est  ipsis 
volentibus,  sed  nihil  potest  fieri  illis  invilis." 

Linton  has  been  thinking,  if  he  speaks,  of  taking  "The  Gov 
ernment  of  God"  as  a  subject.  His  brother  suggests  that  he 
rather  style  it  "The  Philosophy  of  Nature/7  and  adds,  "if  you 
could  steer  clear  of  theological  abstractions  and  metaphysical 
refinements,  I  have  no  doubt  that  an  address  might  be  made 
embodying  views  no  less  interesting  than  new,  and  the  materials 
would  also  allow  of  some  flights  of  fancy  and  embellishments 
suited  to  the  highest  style  of  oratory."  He  hints  that  Time 
might  be  a  better  subject,  but  fears  that  it  is  rather  of  the  "all- 
eloquent  order."  Many  hints  and  thoughtful  suggestions  are 
given ;  and  it  is  really  touching  to  see  how  he  endeavors  to 
forestall  all  possible  difficulties,  to  leave  nothing  u  nth  ought  of, 
nothing  unsaid  that  may  be  in  any  way  helpful  to  this  beloved 
brother. 

On  June  8th  another  long  letter  follows,  still  about  the 
oration,  in  which  he  tells  his  brother  something  about  his  own. 

"  The  subject  of  my  Junior  oration  was  not  the  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
but  the  expediency  of  rebuilding  the  penitentiary  of  the  State  that  had 
been  burned  down.  I  discussed  the  subject  with  my  class-room  mate, 
John  R.  Heed.  He  took  the  affirmative  and  I  the  negative.  The  question 
involved,  of  course,  the  propriety  of  abandoning  that  system  of  punishment 


154  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

in  the  State.  With  that  speech  I  was  never  very  well  pleased,  though  by 
some  it  was  pronounced  the  best  delivered  on  the  occasion.  My  reasons 
for  disliking  it  were  that  it  was  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
speech,  and  did  not  convey  my  real  sentiments.  It  was  written  to  defend 
a  side,  and  not  to  express  or  enforce  my  own  views.  Besides,  I  had  not 
committed  it  well.  I  was  only  about  two  weeks  in  preparing  it.  In  the 
delivery  I  do  not  think  I  spoke  one-half  of  it  as  it  was  written.  Having 
gotten  into  the  current,  however,  I  went  on  with  the  tide,  and  having 
very  soon  lost  my  prompter,  I  ran  at  large  like  a  loose  horse  in  a  public 
ground.  Being  intimate  with  the  subject,  many  of  the  expressions  and 
some  of  the  illustrations  were  perfectly  extempore. 

.  .  .  "  My  speech  prepared  for  the  exhibition  at  the  full  term  was 
written  upon  the  subject  of  our  Cherokee  country,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  about  to  be  acquired,  the  expulsion  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
forced  occupation  of  the  lands.  The  speech  was  decidedly  against  the 
policy  of  the  State  ;  so  much  so  that  the  faculty  wo'uld  not  let  me  deliver 
it,  and  with  that  course  I  was  well  pleased,  for  I  had  no  particular  anxiety 
to  figure  before  the  public, — not  half  so  much  as  I  ought  to  have  had. 
The  only  penalty  inflicted  for  the  contempt  in  writing  a  speech  not 
suffered  to  be  delivered  was  the  requirement  by  the  faculty  that  I  should 
write  a  composition  during  the  vacation.  This  I  did,  and  thus  purged  the 
contempt.  My  English  salutatory  was  written  upon  the  Imperfection  of 
Science.  The  subject  I  thought  very  suitable  to  the  occasion,  and  par 
ticularly  to  myself.  I  had  then  travelled  through  all  the  fields  of  learn 
ing,  so  far  as  means  were  afforded  at  that  place,  and  had  become  familiar 
with  most  of  the  theories  of  philosophers  who  have  undertaken  to  instruct 
mankind ;  and  feeling  deeply  impressed  with  the  consciousness  of  how 
little  I  knew  myself,  and  believed  others  to  know,  I  thought  the  time 
opportune  to  descant  a  little  upon  the  ignorance  of  even  the  learned. 
That  and  the  Latin  address  delivered  at  the  same  time  are  the  only  pieces 
of  my  college  composition  I  now  have,  and  their  preservation  was  alto 
gether  accidental.  .  .  .  All  my  other  papers,  speeches,  compositions, 
and  scraps  I  collected  and  burned  the  morning  before  taking  final  leave 
of  my  room.  This  I  have  often  since  regretted;  for  even  now  I  should 
like  to  look  over  those  early  effusions,  and  observe  the  gradual  develop 
ment  of  style  and  the  change  of  thought  as  well  as  the  manner  of  ex 
pression.  I  have  no  doubt  I  should  see  much  to  make  me  blush,  and 
probably  induce  me  forthwith  to  destroy  them,  for  I  was  among  the 
rudest  of  rude  and  raw  beginners." 

He  has  much  to  say  in  reference  to  a  rather  disgraceful  riot 
that  took  place  at  the  college.  Linton,  it  is  almost  needless  to 
say,  was  in  no  way  connected  with  it;  but  still  it  gives  ,  his 
brother  a  theme  for  a  long  and  earnest  lecture,  full  of  good 
monitions  to  a  young  man.  Disgraceful  and  dishonorable  con- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  155 

duct  or  principles  are  to  be  looked  upon  with  loathing  as  a 
moral  leprosy.  Those  infected  with  them  are  to  be  shunned, 
but  with  pity,  as  we  should  shun  a  wretched  leper.  Shunned, 
that  is,  except  when  an  opportunity  offers  of  doing  them  good. 
But  the  rule  of  our  own  life  is  to  be  "stern  and  inflexible 
honor/7 

On  August  14th  he  writes  that  his  health  is  very  bad  again. 
He  ventured  incautiously  upon  a  journey  after  being  sick,  and 
was  made  much  worse.  Suffers  much  with  his  side  and  a  severe 
cough,  and  is  trying  vesication  with  tartrate  of  antimony.  He 
adds: 

"  I  have  very  little  hope  of  ever  getting  well.  This  I  mention,  not  from 
any  peculiar  feelings  of  despondency  I  entertain,  but  as  the  deliberate  ex 
pression  of  my  apprehension.  It  is  true  that  with  great  care,  prudence, 
and  caution  I  may  recover  my  former  health,  nor  am  I  at  all  disposed  to 
abandon  the  means.  But  still,  from  my  constant  watchfulness  over  my 
state  and  condition  of  health  for  some  years,  my  apprehensions  are  as 
above  expressed." 

On  the  16th  he  writes  more  about  his  health  and  the  treat 
ment  he  is  pursuing, — reiterated  blisterings  and  cupping. 

"  I  did  not  write  at  all  to  excite  your  alarm  so  as  to  render  you  in  the 
least  uneasy.  That  I  am  in  a  delicate  and  precarious  condition  I  feel  con 
fident  ;  but  then  I  am  not  at  all  apprehensive  of  any  immediate  or  speedy 
turn  in  my  disease  in  any  direction.  ...  I  will  keep  you  advised  of  my 
situation  :  and  I  want  you  by  all  means  not  to  permit  yourself  to  grow 
uneasy.  I  do  not  feel  so  myself,  and  do  not  wish  anybody  to  feel  so  on  my 
account.  ^Life  and  death,  as  well  as  everything  else,  should  be  considered 
philosophically.''  j 

And  he  proceeds  so  to  consider  them.  We  can  see  that  he 
really  has  no  expectation  of  recovery,  and  wishes,  without  alarm 
ing  his  brother,  to  get  him  into  a  frame  of  mind  that  will  be 
prepared  for  the  worst.  He  concludes : 

"  In  reference  to  my  own  particular  friends,  I  hardly  know  whether  it 
would  be  more  agreeable  to  me  to  take  my  turn  in  advance  or  to  go  after. 
Be  not  therefore  disturbed,  because,  first,  there  is  no  immediate  cause,  and, 
secondly,  because  to  be  thus  disturbed  is  wrong  in  principle." 

The  letters  now  cease  for  two  months.  Mr.  Stephens  rapidly 
grew  worse,  and  was  prostrated  with  what  all  believed  to  be 
consumption.  For  weeks  his  sufferings  were  terrible  and  un- 


156  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

remitting.  He  looked  constantly  for  the  end,  but  without  fear 
and  without  complaint.  Few  men  have  spoken  of  or  looked 
forward  to  death  more  calmly.  Doubtless  his  habit,  from  child 
hood,  of  contemplating  that  event  as  not  far  off  at  furthest,  and 
likely  to  occur  at  any  time,  as  well  as  the  almost  constant  suffer 
ing  that  made  life  less  desirable  to  him  than  to  most,  have  had 
much  to  do  in  accustoming  him  to  regard  it  with  equanimity.  He 
neither  shunned  nor  sought  any  reference  to  his  own  sufferings ; 
but  his  lively  sympathy  was  always  for  the  afflictions  of  others. 

After  a  time  it  became  evident  that  the  lungs  were  not,  as  was 
at  first  thought,  the  seat  of  the  disease.  It  proved  to  be  in  the 
liver,  where  a  large  abscess  formed,  which  at  length  opened  into 
the  lungs,  and  was  discharged  in  that  way.  Relief  followed ; 
then  rapid  improvement  of  his  health,  which  grew  better  than 
it  had  been  since  1836. 

In  October  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  where  he  ac 
tively  exerted  himself  in  advocating  various  important  measures, 
and  in  opposition  to  the  Central  Bank,  an  institution  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  on  banking  by  the  State,  to  the  winding 
up  of  which  he  greatly  contributed.  One  of  the  important 
questions  which  came  up  during  this  session  of  the  Legislature 
was  that  of  the  adoption  by  the  State  of  the  law  of  Congress 
of  June  25th,  1842,  requiring  that  the  Representatives  to  that 
body  should  be  elected  by  districts,  instead  of  what  was  then 
known  as  the  "general  ticket"  system,  by  which  each  party  pre 
pared  an  entire  ticket,  which  was  voted  on  throughout  the  State. 
Mr.  Stephens  urged  the  Legislature  to  comply  with  this  requisi 
tion,  which  it,  however,  refused  to  do. 

Mr.  Stephens,  being  in  the  minority,  did  not  obtain  any  promi 
nent  position  on  committees,  but  reports  on  all  matters  of  im 
portance  considered  in  committee  were  from  his  pen,  among  the 
rest  a  Report  on  the  Financial  Condition  of  the  State ;  on  the 
Railway,  and  the  disposition  of  the  State  to  abandon  it;  and  on 
Education.  Most  important  of  these,  however,  was  the  Report 
of  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations,  of  which  extended  notice 
must  be  taken. 

It  was  in  this  year,  though  previously  to  his  election,  that  an 
attempt  was  made  to  force  upon  the  country  a  renewal  of  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  157 

protective  tariff.  By  Mr.  Clay's  Compromise  of  1833,  one- 
tenth  of  one-half  of  all  duties  over  a  revenue  standard  was  to 
be  taken  off  every  year  for  ten  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
the  other  half  was  to  be  removed,  and  thereafter  all  duties  were 
to  be  levied  for  revenue  only.  But  in  1842  the  Protectionists 
persistently  refused  to  allow  the  compromise  to  go  into  effect, 
though  it  had  been  agreed  to  by  all  parties,  North  and  South, 
and  its  acceptance  had  quieted  the  discontent  of  the  nullification 
party  in  South  Carolina.  As  in  the  case  of  Missouri  and  Maine, 
one  party  was  willing  to  reap  the  immediate  benefit  of  a  com 
promise,  and  then  did  not  hesitate  at  refusing  to  fulfil  their  part 
of  the  contract.  So  Congress  this  year  passed  a  tariff  bill  of  a 
strongly  protective  character,  in  open  and  flagrant  violation  of 
the  Compromise  of  1833.  President  Tyler  promptly  vetoed 
the  bill.  Another  generally  similar  bill  met  the  same  fate. 
Finally  the  Tariff  Bill  known  as  the  Whig  Tariff  of  1842  was 
passed  and  received  the  Executive  signature.  Though  it  was 
less  objectionable  than  the  others,  still  the  Compromise  of  1833 
was  abandoned,  and  in  principle  the  Protectionists  carried  the 
day.  A  section  of  the  Whig  party  that  had  supported  the 
President  in  his  veto  of  the  bill  creating  "  The  Fiscal  Bank  of 
the  United  States,"  and  were  known  by  the  name  of  "  Tylei 
Whigs/7  acted  with  the  Democrats  in  resisting  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  Protectionists.  The  debates  in  Congress  were  very 
animated,  the  country  was  excited,  and  party  feeling  ran  high. 
The  Southern  States  began  uneasily  to  consider  their  position 
and  prospects  in  the  Republic,  which  position  they  looked  upon 
as  seriously  endangered  by  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  Compro 
mise  of  1833. 

In  Georgia,  the  Whigs  were  slightly  in  the  minority  in  the 
Legislature.  During  the  session  of  the  Senate  an  important 
debate  occurred  on  the  Federal  Relations  of  the  State,  growing 
out  of  the  majority  and  minority  reports  of  the  Committee  on  the 
state  of  the  Republic.  The  matter  under  immediate  considera 
tion  by  the  Committee  was  a  part  of  the  Governor's  message. 
The  previous  Legislature  (Democratic)  had  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions,  and  transmitted  them  through  the  Governor  to  the 
Georgia  Senators  in  Congress,  disapproving  of  the  political  con- 


158  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

duct  of  the  Hon.  J.  M.  Berrien,  one  of  these  Senators.  To  this 
Mr.  Berrien  did  not  reply  directly,  but  published  an  address, 
justificatory  of  his  conduct,  to  the  people  of  Georgia.  The 
Governor  looked  upon  this  action  as  a  slight  to  both  himself  and 
the  Legislature ;  and  so  it  was  considered  by  the  majority  of  the 
Committee,  who  in  their  report  recommended  that  Mr.  Berrien 
should  resign  his  seat.  "  The  Legislature/7  they  said,  "  has  no 
power  to  compel  a  Senator  to  resign  ;  but  the  theory  of  a  Repre 
sentative  government,  and  the  delicate  connection  between  the 
Constituent  and  the  Representative,  imperiously  demand  that 
whenever  he  ceases  to  subserve  the  object  of  his  appointment,  he 
should  at  once  surrender  the  delegated  trust ;  and  tested  by  this 
plain  and  obvious  rule,  Mr.  Berrien  will  utterly  defeat  the  end 
and  design  of  a  Representative  government  should  he  continue 
to  retain  the  office  of  Senator  in  Congress." 

From  this  theory,  that  the  members  of  the  State  Legislatures 
were  the  constituents  of  the  Senators  in  Congress,  the  minority 
dissented  in  a  report  prepared  by  Mr.  Stephens,  though  he  was 
not  a  member  of  the  Committee.  .With  regard  to  the  proper 
constituency  of  the  United  States  Senators  this  report  says : 

^^u  The  undersigned  cannot  agree  with  his  Excellency,  or  the  majority  of 
\  the  Committee,  in  the  idea  that  the  members  of  the  Legislature  are  the 
\  proper  '  Constituents1  of  the  Senators  in  Congress.  It  is  true  that  under 
^  Constitution  of  the  United  States  they  elect  them,  but  in  doing  this 
they  act  themselves  in  a  representative  capacity.  Constituent  and  Repre 
sentative  we  hold  to  be  correlative  terms.  The  Constituent  is  one  whose 
rights  and  interests,  to  some  extent,  are  confided  or  entrusted  to  another ; 
that  other  to  whom  such  rights  and  interests  are  so  confided  or  entrusted 
is  the  Representative.  The  members  of  the  Legislature,  in  electing  a 
United  States  Senator,  are  but  exercising  a  delegated  trust.  That  trust  is 
limited  in  its  extent,  specific  in  its  nature,  and  ceases  with  its  execution. 
The  appointment  is  only  made  through  them  by  their  own  constituents ; 
and  the  Senators,  when  so  chosen,  represent  them  or  their  interests  no 
more  than  any  other  equal  number  of  the  citizens  of  the  State.  Nor  are 
they  any  more  responsible  or  amenable  to  them  than  any  other  like  por 
tion  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  The  fact  that  the  members  of  the  Legis 
latures  of  the  respective  States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
are  made  the  electors  of  Senators  to  Congress,  in  the  opinion  of  the  under 
signed,  no  more  makes  them  the  '  Constituents'  cf  the  Senators,  than  that 
the  election  of  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  being 
made  by  Electors  chosen  in  the  respective  States,  according  to  the  pro- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  159 

visions  of  the  same  Constitution,  makes  such  Electors  the  constituents  of 
these  highest  and  most  important  officers  of  the  Government.  The  cases, 
for  illustration,  are  sufficiently  analogous,  and  the  principles  applicable  to 
one  must  be  applicable  to  the  other.  If  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
States  are  the  '  Constituents'  of  the  Senators,  then  the  Colleges  of  Elec 
tors  in  the  same  States  are  the  only  '  Constituents'  of  the  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  same  doctrine  of  instruction, 
of  course,  would  apply  ;  for  if  applicable  in  one  case,  why  not  in  the  other? 
And  with  this  construction,  what  would  be  the  result  of  our  entire  system 
of  political  organization?  It  would  only  be  necessary  for  the  Electors  in 
each  of  the  States  to  meet,  and  by  their  instructions  to  remove  from  office 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  country  at  every  ebb  and  flow  of  party  feel, 
ing,  or  change  in  popular  opinion.  But  the  undersigned  do  not  so  under 
stand  the  Constitution  ;  nor  do  they  believe  it  was  so  understood  by  its 
frame  rs  or  first  expounders.  They  hold_that__the  People  of  the  States,  and 
not  the  Legislatures,  are  the  Constituents'  of  Senators  in  Congress,  and 
that  the  people  of  the  Unite^JLStates-,  and-  notH^re  Electors,  are  the  Con 
stituents  of  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  tlie-Umo~Tn This  was 
certainTy~the  opinion  of  Washington,  who,  in  one  of  his  earliest  messages 
to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  spoke  of  the  people  of  the 
country  as  being  his  and  their  common  '  Constituents.'  Had  he  held  the 
doctrine  of  the  Governor  or  the  majority  of  the  Committee,  he  could  not 
have  looked  beyond  the  Electors,  '  the  body  from  whom  he  derived  his  office,' 
in  referring  to  his  constituents.  The  majority  of  the  Committee  say  that 
'the  Legislature  has  no  power  to  compel  a  Senator  to  resign;  but  the 
theory  of  a  Representative  government,  and  the  delicate  connection  between 
the  Constituent  and  Representative,  imperiously  demand  that  whenever  he 
ceases  to  subserve  the  object  of  his  appointment,  he  should  at  once  sur 
render  the  delegated  trust ;  and  tested  by  this  plain  and  obvious  rule, 
Mr.  Berrien  will  utterly  defeat  the  end  and  design  of  a  Representative 
government  should  he  continue  to  retain  the  office  of  Senator  in  Con 
gress.'  Now,  what  peculiar  opinion  the  majority  may  entertain  of  the 
theory  of  a  Representative  government,  by  which  they  arrive  at  the  con 
clusion  stated,  the  undersigned  are  wholly  unable  to  imagine ;  and  as 
those  theoretical  views  are  not  given,  the  premises  from  which  the  deduc 
tions  are  drawn  being  unknown,  the  legitimacy  of  the  conclusion  must,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  remain  a  subject  of  mere  speculation.  The  undersigned, 
however,  in  arguing  such  a  question,  would  state  that  they  recognized  no 
principles  or  premises  from  which  to  start  but  such  as  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  country.  And  taking  this  as  their  rule  and  stand 
ard,  and  confining  themselves  in  their  inquiries  strictly  within  its  plainly- 
written  and  well-defined  provisions,  they  hesitate  not  to  say  that  the 
conclusion  of  the  majority  is  altogether  erroneous.  If  the  majority  have 
any  other  theory  than  that  of  the  Constitution,  the  undersigned  beg  leave 
to  say  that  they  are  not  its  advocates.  They  know  of  but  one  code  of 


160  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

principles  governing  the  question,  and  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  funda 
mental  law  of  the  Union, — the  great  chart  of  our  Representative  govern 
ment.  The  minority  take  it  for  granted  that  what  is  meant  in  the  report 
by  the  expression,  'when  a  Senator  ceases  to  subserve  the  object  of  his 
appointment,'  is,  when  he  ceases  to  effect  or  carry  out  the  wishes  of  those 
whom  the  majority  are  pleased  to  call  his  'Constituents';  or,  in  other 
words,  to  conform  to  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  Legislature.  With 
this  understanding,  it  seems  only  necessary  to  compare  the  proposition 
with  the  principles  assumed  as  the  standard  to  render  its  fallacy  apparent 
toaliy  Ours  is  a  government  founded  upon  compact.  Its  principles  and 
powers  are  so  well  and  clearly  denned  in  the  instrument  of  its  creation, 
as  to  leave  but  little  latitude  for  theory  in  its  construction.  Nor  are  the 
"Duties,  obligations,  and  responsibilites  of  those  who  officiate  in  its  admin 
istration  less  distinctly  marked ;  and  the  provisions  of  all  which,  as  well 
as  the  powers  granted,  as  the  mode  and  manner  of  their  execution,  were 
wisely  adjusted,  with  proper  checks  and  balances,  by  its  patriot  founders, 
for  the  preservation  of  peace,  liberty,  and  happiness.  And  according  to 
the  provisions  of  that  instrument,  the  term  of  a  Senator's  office  is  fixed  at 
the  period  of  six  years,  and  is  not  left  dependent  upon  the  fluctuations  of 
party  strife,  or  the  sudden  changes  of  factious  majorities.  It  may  be  true 
that  the  ' theory''  of  the  majority  'demands'  a  different  term,  or  one  upon 
different  principles ;  but  it  is  sufficient  for  us  that  the  Constitution  does 
not.  The  propriety  of  this  feature  in  the  Government  is  not  now  the 
question  for  remark.  All  that  is  asked  is  that  it  be  acknowledged  as  part 
of  the  Constitution,  and  that  as  such,  so  long  as  it  remains  unaltered,  it  be 
maintained  inviolate.  We  believe,  however,  that  there  is  wisdom  in  the 
clause  fixing  the  term  of  Senators  as  long  as  it  is,  and  that  it  was  not  so 
arranged  or  adopted  without  many  salutary  views.  /^_the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  had  thought,  as  the  majority  do,  that  the  holding  of  the  seat, 
on  the  part  of  any  Senator,  against  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  Legis 
lature  of  his  State,  at  any  time,  would  utterly  defeat  the  end  and  design 
of  the  Government  they  were  forming,  would  they  n£t  have  made  the 
tenure  of  this  office  dependent  upon  different  principles  y  If  all  the  good, 
and  the  advantages  which  it  was  supposed  would  belTeVived  from  the  for 
mation  of  this  Government,  could  be  so  easily  defeated,  is  it  not  strange 
that  so  important  an  oversight  should  have  been  committed  by  men  so 
distinguished  for  learning,  wisdom,  and  patriotism?  Such  an  argument, 
even  if  we  were  left  to  our  own  unassisted  conjectures,  would  do  injustice 
to  their  memories.  But  when  with  the  light  of  their  own  exposition  we 
are  taught  that  this  feature  was  incorporated  for  the  express  purpose  of 
rendering  that  branch  of  the  National  Legislature  free  from  the  influence 
and  control  of  sudden  changes  in  popular  opinion,  how  can  we  or  a-ny  one 
subscribe  to  the  doctrine  that  the  effectuation  by  a  Senator  of  this  very 
original  design  is  a  subversion  of  the  Government  and  a  defeat  of  the  end 
of  its  creation?  And  with  these  views  and  principles  we  beg  leave  re- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  161 

^ 

spectfully  to  declare  our  attachment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  country  as 
it  is,  in  preference  to  any  undefined  principles  or  untried  '  theories  of  a 
Representative  government,1  entertained  by  those  of  a  majority  of  the 
Committee.  This  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the  majority  we 
deem  no  less  indiscreet  in  another  consideration.  Twice  at  least,  in  the 
last  four  years,  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State  differed,  on 
most  of  the  great  questions  of  national  politics,  from  both  their  Senators 
in  Congress.  Without  stating  what  the  course  of  those  majorities  then 
was,  as  a  precedent  now,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  say  that 
the  Senators  continued  to  retain  their  seats ;  or,  in  the  views  perhaps  of 
the  majority,  'ceased  to  subserve  the  objects  of  their  appointment.'  The 
same  may  be  said  of  several  other  States  of  the  Union ;  and  what  has  been 
the  result?  Has  the  end  and  design  of  a  Representative  government  been 
thereby  utterly  defeated?  And  can  the  majority  seriously  entertain  the 
opinion  that  if  the  Honorable  John  M.  Berrien,  who  deservedly  stands 
among  the  first  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  learning  and  elo 
quence,  and  who  is  no  less  an  honor  to  his  State  than  an  ornament  to  the 
nation,  shall  continue  to  hold  his  place,  though  he  may  happen  to  differ  at 
this  time  from  the  majority  in  the  Legislature  of  his  own  State  on  many 
questions  of  public  policy,  that  this  will  result  in  an  utter  defeat  of  the 
end  and  design  of  Representative  government?  We  can  hardly  conceive 
that  we  have  to  do  more  than  barely  state  the  proposition  to  cause  them, 
however  strong  may  be  their  party  zeal,  at  least  to  see  the  error  of  their 
position,  if  not  to  modify  the  entravagance  of  their  assertion." 

But  the  minority  did  not  stop  with  these  refutations  of  the 
position  of  the  majority.  They  took  this  occasion  clearly  to 
state  their  views,  and  the  views  of  such  as  agreed  with  them  on 
the  great  public  questions  then  under  agitat'on  ;  and  their  very 
able  presentation  of  these  views  caused  this  document  to  be  re 
ceived  as  a  declaration  of  principles  of  the  Whig  party  in  Georgia. 
As  such,  and  as  a  clear  enunciation  of  Mr.  Stephens's  own  politi 
cal  doctrines,  we  give  the  remainder  of  this  report  almost  entire. 
After  showing  that  the  assertion  of  the  majority  that  the  people 
of  Georgia  were  opposed  to  a  National  Bank  was  not  supported 
by  sufficient  evidence,  and  that  the  warm  support  the  State  had 
given  President  Jackson  had  other  causes  than  his  antagonism 
to  that  institution,  the  report  proceeds  : 

"Another  broad  declaration  made  by  the  majority,  to  which  the  under 
signed  cannot  give  their  assent,  is  that  '  the  people  of  Georgia  are  opposed 
to  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands.'  Now, 
how  this  conclusion  is  arrived  at  we  must  confess  that  we  are  equally 
unable  to  determine.  In  this  case,  adopting  the  same  standard  as  that 

11 


1(52  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

assumed  in  the  previous  one,  we  certainly  arrive  at  very  different  conclu 
sions  from  those  attained  by  the  majority.  If,  by  the  phrase  '  the  dis 
tribution  of  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  public  lands.'  it  is  meant  to  include 
the  distribution  which  was  lately  expected  to  take  place,  certainly  the 
Committee  will  not  even  attempt  to  maintain  their  position  ;  for,  if  we  be 
not  misinformed,  a  place  was  left  for  the  use  of  those  funds  in  legislative 
appropriation  even  before  their  reception  ;  and  the  present  Governor  of 
this  State  was  among  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first,  in  the  whole  Union,  to 
make  application  for  the  portion  coming  to  Georgia.  This,  in  our  opinion, 
would  not  justify  us  in  saying  that  the  people  were  opposed  to  the  dis 
tribution.  But  perhaps  the  majority  mean  only  to  say  that  the  people  are 
only  opposed  to  the  principle  of  the  distribution,  though  they  are  willing 
and  ready  to  receive  their  part  when  it  is  made.  That 

'The  right  they  see,  and  they  approve  it  too, 
The  wrong  condemn,  and  yet  the  wrong  pursue.' 

But  this  would  be  giving  the  State  such  a  position  before  the  civilized  and 
moral  world  as  we  would  be  slow  to  acknowledge.  And  as  we  are  un 
willing  to  see  this  injustice  done  to  her  character  by  any  such  unauthorized 
statement,  we  feel  bound  to  vindicate  her  honor  from  the  unwarrantable 
aspersion.  We  believe  that  the  State  has  applied  for  her  quota  because  it 
was  right  and  it  was  just,  and  that,  for  the  same  reasons,  she  could  con 
tinue  to  demand  it.  But  the  question  now  is  not  the  propriety  of  the 
distribution  ;  it  is  whether  the  people  of  Georgia  be  opposed  to  it?  and  in 
determining  it  as  before,  we  only  have  recourse  to  the  indications  of  the  past 
So  far  as  the  application  for  her  portion  of  the  dividend  expected  to  be  made 
is  concerned,  that  is  certainly  a  strong  demonstration  in  favor  of  the  distri 
bution.  But  this  is  not  all.  In  1837,  when  the  large  distribution  was  made 
of  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  United  States,  which  accrued  mostly  from  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  Georgia  showed  no  formidable  opposition  to  the 
measure,  but  readily  received  her  part,  and  thereby  added  over  one  million 
of  dollars  to  the  means  of  the  Central  Bank,  to  aid  the  people  in  her 
munificent  loans.  From  these  examples,  how  can  it  be  said  that  her  people 
are  opposed  to  the  distribution?  But  again  :  in  1833,  when  the  question 
as  to  the  proper  distribution  of  the  public  lands  was  before  Congress, 
Georgia  gave  some  expressions  of  the  views  of  her  people  upon  this  sub 
ject,  at  least  so  far  as  a  legislative  resolve  could,  with  propriety,  be  con 
sidered  as  such  expression.  The  language  of  the  Legislature  at  this  time 
was  in  the  following  words  :  i  Without  specifically  inquiring  into  the  means 
by  which  the  United  States  Government  became  possessed  of  the  public 
lands,  or  the  causes  which,  after  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  induced  several 
of  the  States  to  transfer  to  that  Government  all,  or  a  great  portion,  of  their 
unoccupied  lands,  under  certain  limitations  and  restrictions,  specified  in 
the  several  deeds  of  cession  or  relinquish ments,  your  Committee  deem  it 
sufficient  to  state  that  those  deeds  and  relinquishments,  and  all  other  pur- 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

chases  of  lands  by  the  United  States  Government,  were  made  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  several  States.  That  it  is  a  common  fund  to  be 
distributed  without  partiality,  and  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  all  the  States.' 

"  Here  is  a  most  positive  declaration  of  sentiment  nine  years  ago,  before 
any  distribution  had  been  made,  that  these  lands  were  a  common  fund, 
not  for  the  benefit  of  the  General  Government,  to  be  wasted  and  squandered 
in  useless  extravagance,  but  for  the  several  States, — that  is,  each  individ 
ually ;  and  that  this  fund  ought  to  be  distributed  among  them  without 
partiality.  How  then,  in  the  face  of  this  declaration,  and  after  the  dis 
tribution  which  has  been  made,  and  Georgia's  reception  of,  or  application 
for,  her  portion,  can  we  join  in  the  assertion  that  her  people  are  opposed 
to  the  distribution?  But,  as  stated  before,  we  apprehend  the  object  is 
rather  to  form  and  forestall  public  opinion,  than  to  express  what  it  really 
is.  For  why  should  Georgia  be  opposed  to  this  distribution?  Has  she  no 
interest  in  those  lands  and  no  right  to  a  part  of  their  proceeds?  We  con 
ceive  that  she  has ;  and  that  she  should  neither  neglect  her  interest  nor 
relinquish  her  right.  The  Territory  of  Georgia  once  extended  to  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  including  within  its  limits  the  present  new  and 
nourishing  States  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  This  immense  region, 
embracing  some  of  the  most  fertile  soil  on  the  continent,  was  once  the 
property  of  our  fathers.  Had  it  been  kept  and  retained  by  them  it  would 
have  been  worth  millions  of  treasure ;  but  for  purposes  more  patriotic 
than  prudent,  they  ceded  this  entire  domain,  forming  the  two  States  above 
named,  to  the  General  Government,  under  specific  limitations  and  con 
ditions.  These  were,  that  the  lands,  after  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum 
of  money,  and  making  good  certain  titles,  should  be  held  by  the  General 
Government  as  a  common  fund,  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States, 
Georgia  included,  and  for  no  other  purpose  whatever.  The  language  of 
this  condition  is  as  follows:  '  That  all  the  lands  ceded  by  this  agreement 
to  the  United  States  shall,  after  satisfying  the  above-mentioned  payment 
of  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the  State  of 
Georgia,  and  the  grants  recognized  by  the  preceding  conditions,  be  con 
sidered  as  a  common  fund  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  United  States, 
Georgia  included,  and  shall  be  faithfully  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and 
for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatever."1 

"  Similar  deeds  of  cession  were  made  by  the  other  States  which  were 
the  proprietors  of  those  territories  which  now  also  embraced  parts  of  the 
public  lands.  The  terms  of  the  Virginia  cession  are  very  much  like  those 
of  Georgia.  They  expressly  stipulated  that  these  lands  '  should  be  faith 
fully  and  bona  fide  disposed  of  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  cession, 
and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever.'  Now,  these  first  objects  of 
the  deeds  of  cession  having  been  fully  accomplished,  what  do  the  advo 
cates  of  distribution  ask,  but  that  the  remainder  of  these  lands  shall  be 
faithfully  and  bona  fide  disposed  of,  according  to  the  terms  by  which  the 
Government  acquired  them?  Is  it  not  right  that  Georgia  and  other  States 


164  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

should  insist  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract,  so  far  as  their  interests 
are  concerned?  And  if  it  is  right,  why  should  it  not  be  demanded?  Is 
it  sufficient  to  be  met  with  the  answer  that  it  is  better  for  the  General 
Government  to  keep  these  funds  to  meet  its  own  ordinary  expenses  rather 
than  turn  them  over  to  the  States  to  whom  they  rightly  belong,  for  fear, 
in  case  of  their  withdrawal,  that  heavier  contributions  will  be  laid  by  way 
of  taxation  ?  We  think  not.  It  would  be  an  insufficient  answer  in  any 
trustee,  when  called  upon  to  account  for  funds  committed  to  his  charge, 
that  he  had  used  them  in  the  payment  of  his  own  debts.  Nor  does  it 
follow  that  if  these  funds  be  distributed  according  to  contract  more 
taxes  will  be  levied.  The  people  will  rather  require  the  expenses  and 
extravagances  of  the  Government  to  be  curtailed,  which  would  be  one  of 
the  most  salutary  ways  of  effecting  that  reformation.  But  this  reply  is 
only  intended  for  deception  and  delusion.  It  is  well  known  that  millions 
of  these  lands  have  already  been  squandered  in  gifts,  largesses,  and  dona 
tions,  and  are  not  brought  into  the  common  treasury  of  the  country.  For 
years  past  they  have  been  kept  as  a  kind  of  reserved  fund  of  speculation 
for  the  political  gamblers  for  the  Presidency.  Millions  of  acres  have  been 
given  as  bounties  to  schools  and  colleges,  and  for  other  purposes,  in  the 
new  States  ;  and  every  means  has  been  resorted  to,  by  the  friends  of  dif 
ferent  favorites,  to  secure  the  popularity  of  the  men  of  their  choice  by 
some  new  method  of  wasting  the  public  domain.  And  the  contest  now  is 
really  not  between  the  claims  of  the  treasury  and  the  friends  of  distribu 
tion,  but  between  those  who  advocate  a  partial  or  entire  surrender  of  the 
lands  to  the  new  States  and  those  who  insist  upon  a  division  of  their 
proceeds,  according  to  the  terms  of  cession.  And  are  the  people  of 
Georgia  willing  to  see  these  lands,  and  the  immense  interest  she  has  in 
them,  either  so  squandered,  or  entirely  abandoned,  according  to  the  views 
of  different  political  aspirants?  Has  she  no  use  for  money  that  she  should 
be  so  lavish  and  prodigal  of  her  treasure  ?  If  the  General  Government  is 
in  debt,  it  has  been  incurred  by  its  own  profligacy ;  and  should  Georgia 
and  the  other  States  surrender  their  rights  in  order  to  sustain  its  credit 
when  their  own  is  permitted  to  go  dishonored?  Let  the  United  States 
account  to  us  for  what  is  our  due,  and  we  will  not  fail  to  render  to  them 
every  dollar  that  is  legally  and  properly  exacted ;  or,  in  other  words,  let  us 
have  but  our  own,  and  we  will  be  the  better  able  to  pay  what  is  theirs.  .  .  . 
11  In  the  third  place,  another  principle  to  which  the  people  of  this  State 
in  the  report  are  said  to  be  opposed,  is  '  the  abolition  of  the  Veto  Power.' 
Had  nothing  else  been  said  upon  this  subject  or  no  attempt  been  made, 
as  we  conceive,  to  misrepresent  the  views  of  our  honorable  Senator  in 
relation  to  it,  we  should  have  'given  this  proposition  our  hearty  assent. 
No  man  in  this  State,  perhaps,  is  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  the  veto 
power.  Judge  Berrien  certainly  is  not,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  his 
sentiments  declared.  No  one  can  express  his  views  upon  the  subject  more 
clearly  than  he  did  himself  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  We  beg 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  165 

leave  to  refer  to  his  words,  that  none  may  misunderstand  either  him  or 
that  modification  of  the  veto  power  of  which  he  is  in  favor.  '  I  ask,' 
said  he,  '  the  Senate  now  to  consider  what  it  is  the  resolution  proposes  as 
a  security  against  the  recurrence  of  this  state  of  things?  Does  it  seek  to 
abolish  the  Executive  Veto?  No,  sir;  this  is  not  the  proposition.  It  is 
simply  to  modify  the  existing  limitation.  Let  us  now  look  to  the  limita 
tion  which  the  resolution  recommends.  It  proposes  that  when  a  bill 
which  has  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  shall  be  returned  by  the  Presi 
dent,  with  his  veto,  all  further  action  shall  be  suspended  upon  it  until  the 
next  succeeding  session ;  in  the  mean  time  the  reasons  of  the  President 
will  be  spread  upon  the  Legislative  Journal, — will  be  read,  considered, 
submitted  to  the  public,  and  discussed  orally  and  through  the  medium  of 
the  press  ;  and  members  will  return  to  their  constituents,  will  mingle  with 
and  consult  them.  At  the  opening  of  the  next  session  of  Congress  the 
resolution  proposes  that  the  consideration  of  the  bill  shall  be  resumed ; 
and  then  if  the  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives  elected,  after  the  interval  thus  afforded  for  deliberation,  for 
consultation  with  their  constituents,  and  for  the  public  discussion  of  the 
subject,  shall  reaffirm  the  bill,  it  shall  become  a  law.' 

"  Such  are  the  sentiments  of  the  Senator,  from  which  it  will  appear  how 
great  injustice  is  done  him  in  imputing  to  him  a  wish  to  abolish  the  veto. 
But  the  majority  say,  if  the  proposed  modification  should  be  adopted,  'all 
our  rights,  and  the  Constitution  itself,  will  be  the  sport  of  an  irresponsible 
majority  in  Congress.'  This  is  bold  language,  and  upon  a  grave  subject, 
and  therefore  deserves  particular  attention.  In  noticing  it  we  will  suggest 
but  three  inquiries.  In  the  first  place,  will  not  the  rights  of  the  people 
be  as  amply  protected  in  the  hands  of  a  number  of  Representatives  as  by 
the  will  of  one  man  ?  Would  they  be  less  secure  with  their  Representa 
tives  in  Congress  than  with  the  President?  In  the  second  place,  if  the 
Constitution  should  be  so  amended,  would  Congress  have  any  more  power 
over  it  then  than  they  have  now?  Congress  has  now  no  power  over  the 
Constitution.  They  are  bound  by  its  precepts.  And  as  the  proposed 
amendment  confers  no  new  power,  Congress,  of  course,  would  have  no 
more  over  it  after  the  amendment  than  before.  In  the  third  place,  how 
can  the  majorities  in  Congress  be  said  to  be  irresponsible?  Are  they  not 
elected  by  the  people?  Do  not  the  members  of  the  House  hold  their 
office  for  the  short  term  of  two  years?  Are  they  then  not  amenable  to 
the  people  ?  If  they  do  wrong,  or  misrepresent  the  wishes  of  those  who 
elect  them,  will  they  not  be  displaced  and  others  put  in  their  stead  ?  Are 
they  then  not  amenable  to  the  people?  If  they  do  wrong,  or  misrepre 
sent  the  wishes  of  those  who  elect  them,  will  they  not  be  displaced  and 
others  put  in  their  stead?  Are  they  more  irresponsible  than  the  Presi 
dent? 

"  But,  in  the  fourth  place :  Another  subject  is  mentioned  in  the  report, 
on  which  the  undersigned  were  desirous  that  no  disagreement  should  ex- 


1(56  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

1st  either  in  the  Committee  or  in  the  House.  We  allude  to  the  principles 
involved  in  the  adjustment  of  the  tariff.  Nor  would  we  notice  the  subject 
at  this  time  if  we  did  not  conceive  that  there  has  been  an  evident  attempt 
in  this  particular  also  to  do  great  injustice  to  the  position  of  our  honorable 
Senator  in  relation  to  it.  The  majority,  in  their  first  resolution,  declare 
that  'the  opinions  of  the  Honorable  John  M.  Berrien  upon  the  adjustment 
of  the  tariff  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the  principles  of  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  this  State.'  And  in  their  preamble  they  state  that  a  ma 
jority  of  the  people  believe  that  a  tariff  for  protection  is  unequal  in  its 
operations,  oppressive,  and  unjust.  From  this  the  inference  is  clear  that 
principles  are  imputed  to  the  honorable  Senator  favorable  to  the  enact 
ment  of  a  '  tariff  for  protection.'  This  imputation  we  deem  utterly  un 
founded  and  altogether  unjust.  Judge  Berrien  has  always  been  opposed 
to  a  '  tariff  for  protection'  ;  or,  at  least,  we  supposed  that  this  position 
would  be  granted  him  wherever  the  author  of  the  '  Georgia  Manifesto' 
was  known.  Nor  do  the  undersigned  know  with  what  recklessness  of 
purpose  a  contrary  position  is  now  charged  upon  him.  Perhaps  the  same 
spirit,  if  unchecked,  would  lead  its  authors  to  make  the  same  unwarrant 
able  allegations  against  the  whole  political  party  in  this  State  with  which 
he  acts.  If  so,  our  object  is  to  repel  even  the  insinuation.  The  opinions 
and  principles  of  that  party  upon  the  Tariff  question  have  always  been 
known.  They  have  undergone  no  change.  And  in  making  a  declaration 
of  them  we  presume  we  would  be  stating  in  the  main  those  held  by  our 
Senator.  We  are,  and  have  been,  in  favor  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  and  rev 
enue  only ;  and  that  for  no  more  revenue  than  is  sufficient  to  support  the 
Government  in  an  economical  administration  thereof.  We  hold  that  in 
levying  such  a  tariff,  in  many  instances  it  may  be  both  proper  and  right 
to  discriminate.  This  may  be  done  either  for  the  purpose  of  retaliating 
against  the  policy  of  foreign  nations  who  may  subject  our  produce  to 
heavy  taxation,  or  for  the  purpose  of  exempting  some  articles  of  foreign 
production  consumed  extensively  in  this  country  (and  in  some  instances  by 
classes  less  able  to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  Government)  from  so  high 
duties  on  others  more  able  to  sustain  them.  And  so  far  as  such  a  tariff 
incidentally  encourages,  fosters,  or  protects  the  domestic  industry  of  the 
country  in  any  branch  thereof,  whether  mechanical,  manufacturing,  ship 
ping,  or  agricultural,  it  may  properly  do  so.  A  tariff  '  for  protection,'  to 
which  we  are  and  have  been  opposed,  is,  where  the  tariff  is  levied  not 
with  a  view  to  revenue,  but  for  the  prohibition,  totally,  or  in  part,  of  the 
importation  of  certain  articles  from  abroad,  that  the  producers  of  such 
articles  in  this  country  may  have  our  market  to  themselves,  free  from 
foreign  competition  ;  or  that  the  price  of  the  foreign  articles  may  be  so 
enhanced  by  the  excessive  duties  as  to  enable  the  home  producer  to  enter 
the  market  without  fear  of  competition.  Against  this  we  protest,  because 
the  means  used  are  not  legitimate ;  and  it  is  highly  oppressive  to  the  in 
terests  of  all  other  classes  in  society  who  are  the  consumers  of  such 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

articles.  As  far  as  the  Government,  in  the  proper  exercise  of  its  powers, 
can  give  encouragement  to  the  general  industry  of  the  country,  or  aid  in 
the  development  of  its  resources,  it  should  do  it.  But  not  one  step  beyond 
that  should  it  go. 

"  With  these  views  we  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  John  M.  Berrien,  our  Senator  in  Congress, 
for  the  able  and  distinguished  manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  his 
public  duties,  receives  our  warmest  approbation,  and  is  entitled  to  the 
thanks  and  confidence  of  the  people  of  Georgia. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  do  not  consider  the  members  of  the  Legislature  the 
proper  constituents  of  Senators  in  Congress 5  or  that  the  Senators  in  Con 
gress  are  any  more  responsible  or  amenable  to  them  than  to  any  other 
equal  number  of  like  citizens  of  the  State. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  our  opinion  a  majority  of  the  people  of  this  State 
are  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  utility  and  expediency  of  a  National  Bank, 
compared  with  any  other  system  of  finance  proposed  to  the  country  :  as 
well  as  a  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands 
among  the  States,  severally,  i  equitably,'  and  '  without  partiality.' 

"  Resolved,  That  in  our  opinion  the  most  proper  and  expedient  way  of 
raising  means  to  meet  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  General  Government 
is  by  duties  upon  imports;  and  though  in  the  levying  of  such  duties  for 
this  main  object  a  judicious  and  proper  discrimination  be  exercised,  yet 
in  no  instance  should  duties  be  laid  for  the  purpose  of  protection,  but  for 
revenue  only. 

11  ROBT.  A.  T.  RIDLEY,  ll  JOHN  TOWNSEND, 

"  A.  B.  REID,  "  JAMES  T.  BOTHWELL, 

"  WM.  B.  TANKERSLEY,  "  Ez.  BUFFINGTON, 

"  JOHX  CAMPBELL." 

We  have  quoted  at  considerable  length  from  this  document, 
because,  as  before  remarked,  it  was  accepted  as  a  declaration  of 
the  principles  of  the  Georgia  Whigs,  and  formed  their  platform 
in  the  ensuing  Congressional  election.  It  will  be  seen  they  differ 
considerably  from  those  of  the  Northern  Whigs. 

The  doctrine  that  the  Senators  in  Congress  represent  the  Legis 
latures  of  their  respective  States  is  so  unreasonable,  that  one 
would  think  it  had  only  to  be  plainly  stated  to  be  refuted.  The 
principles  on  which  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  were  constructed 
has  been  explained  in  a  previous  chapter.  A  Constitution  could 
not  have  been  formed  in  which  no  respect  was  had  to  the  differ 
ence  of  population  of  the  States,  nor  could  one  have  been  formed 
in  which  the  States  entered  otherwise  than  as  equal  Sovereign 
Powers.  Hence  the  inequality  in  the  lower  House,  and  equality 


168  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

in  the  Senate.  The  constituents  of  the  Senators  are  the  People 
of  the  State  as  an  organic  whole — a  Sovereign  Power ;  the  con 
stituents  of  the  Representatives  are  the  People  of  the  State  as  a 
multitude  of  individuals. 

The  National  Bank  was  a  Whig  measure  everywhere.  It  was 
believed  that  such  an  institution  could  be  established  which 
would  be  free  from  the  defects  that  rendered  the  former  one  so 
pernicious,  and  to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Stephens  had  been 
so  emphatically  opposed.  The  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands,  however  it  might  have  worked,  would  have 
been  far  better  than  having  a  glutted  treasury  to  invite  plunder 
and  stimulate  corruption,  or  than  the  scheme  which,  under  the 
specious  name  of  "Public  Improvements,"  added  a  dangerous 
power  and  influence  to  the  General  Government,  and  made  it 
possible  to  bribe  whole  States,  even  to  the  detriment  of  those 
whose  bounty  had  furnished  the  means. 

Against  the  impolitic  and  iniquitous  system  of  protection  (now 
defended  in  no  enlightened  country  except  the  United  States) 
it  will  be  seen  they  take  firm  ground.  In  this  they  were  sup 
ported  by  sound  political  economy,  simple  justice,  and  the  pro 
visions  of  a  solemn  agreement.  They  could  not  foresee  that  at 
a  later  day  the  leading  spirits  in  Congress  would  be  men  to  whom 
these  things  would  be  laughing-stocks,  and  the  Constitution 
itself  the  object  of  scorn  and  derision. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Journey  to  Florida— A  House  of  Mourning — The  Kays — Nomination  to 
Congress — Discussion  with  Judge  Colquitt — The  Tables  turned — Election 
of  Mr.  Stephens — Death  of  Aaron  Grier  Stephens. 

IN  the  following  year,  1843,  we  find  the  correspondence  with 
Linton  renewed,  as  the  latter  had  returned  to  college.  In  April 
Alexander  informs  him  that  he  is  about  starting  for  Florida.  He 
travelled  in  his  buggy,  taking  his  servant,  Bob,  with  him  on 
horseback.  Little  is  said  of  this  journey,  which  went  as  far  as 
Tallahassee ;  perhaps  the  postal  facilities  were  not  great.  On 
his  way  home  he  writes  a  long  letter  from  Hamilton,  chiefly  in 
reference  to  domestic  affliction  in  the  family  of  his  brother  John, 
who  lived  there,  one  of  whose  children  had  just  died  of  scarlet 
fever,  and  another  was  very  ill.  He  stayed  a  week  to  help  in 
nursing  the  sick  and  comforting  the  mourners. 

"  I  do  not  remember  when  I  approached  a  family  in  the  midst  of  so 
much  gloom,  or  when  my  own  heart  has  been  so  much  saddened.  I  came 
expecting  enjoyment  and  hoping  to  partake  of  such  pleasures  as  generally 
attend  the  meetings  and  greetings  of  kindred  and  friends  after  long  inter 
vals  of  absence.  Instead  of  this,  I  came  to  a  house  of  mourning,  and  my 
office  was  to  comfort  the  grieved  and  soothe  the  afflicted.  This  is,  perhaps, 
after  all,  the  best  way  in  which  to  spend  our  time.  Our  life  is  but  a 
chequered  scene  at  best,  furnishing  much  more  over  which  to  mourn  than 
to  rejoice.  Now  and  then,  it  is  true,  it  is  favored  with  a  ray  of  sunshine 
and  beauty  to  warm  and  gladden  the  soul,  and  cause  its  young  hopes  to 
bud  and  blossom.  Q|iit  no  sooner  are  they  fully  blown  than  they  are 
nipped  by  untimely  frosts  or  blasted  by  chilling  rains,  or  dashed  to  pieces 
by  reckless  storms.^  Man's  history  is  a  strange  mixture  of  pleasure  and 
pain,  joy  and  sorrow,  hope  and  despair,  life  and  death  !  A  mystery,  deep, 
dark,  and  unfathomable  !  To  live  to-day, — to  be  warm,  to  move  and  think : 
to-morrow  to  be  silent,  cold,  and  dead, — devoid  of  mind  and  sense,  fast 
mouldering  into  dust, — fit  food  for  worms.  To-day  with  a  spirit  that  can 
scan  the  universe  and  make  its  own  impress  upon  the  world  that  ages 
cannot  efface, — to-morrow  to  be  nothing  but  loathsome  matter  to  be  hidden 
away  to  rot.  This  is  man." 

169 


170  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

On  May  28th  he  reports  his  safe  return,  and  gives  a  minute 
account  of  his  reception,  the  condition  in  which  lie  found  things, 
and  the  various  events,  fortunate  or  otherwise,  that  had  happened 
during  his  absence.  On  June  4th  he  sends  complimentary  and 
gallant  messages  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Church  (daughter  of  Dr. 
Alonzo  Church,  his  old  friend,  now  President  of  the  university) 
on  the  announcement  of  her  engagement  with  Lieutenant 
Craig.  This  charming  and  accomplished  lady  .was  married 
soon  after.  Her  husband,  about  the  year  1853,  was  murdered 
by  a  gang  of  mutineers  in  the  army,  on  the  survey  of  the 
Mexican  boundary,  and  in  1859  the  widow  married  James  Robb, 
Esq.,  of  New  York.  During  the  war  she  became  known  to 
thousands  of  our  Southern  soldiers  while  prisoners  at  the  North, 
whose  wants  she  supplied  as  far  as  was  in  her  power.  She  died 
in  1868.  The  letter  closes  with  a  sketch  of  an  evening  visit 
paid  to  his  cousin  Sabrina  Ray,  which  forms  a  pleasing  picture 
of  life  on  an  old-fashioned  Georgia  farm. 

"  They  [the  Rays]  seem  peculiarly  fitted  for  taking  the  world  easy  and 
making  the  most  of  it  as  it  goes.  Tom  [Mr.  Ray]  is  really  amusing.  I 
hardly  know  what  to  make  of  him.  He  has  no  desire  to  make  any  more 
than  just  enough  to  live  comfortably  on,  and  then  to  live  to  enjoy  it.  They 
were  all  hands  at  work.  Cousin  was  weaving,  while  William's  wife  and 
Granny  [both  servants]  were  making  the  wheels  fly.  They  were  all  glad 
to  see  me.  We  had  a  fine  supper.  Cousin  milked  her  own  cows.  I  went 
with  her  to  the  pen.  She  has  a  fine  spring-house,  and  I  saw  all  her  jars 
and  pans  of  milk,  butter,  etc.,  fresh  and  as  cool  as  the  fountain.  At  sup 
per  no  one  had  coffee  but  myself:  milk  was  the  only  beverage,  some  taking 
buttermilk  and  some  sweet  milk,  and  every  one  having  his  mug.  All 
seemed  contented  and  cheerful,  and  full  of  such  happiness  as,  when  weary 
and  tired  with  a  long  day's  work,  night  brings  to  the  industrious  when  in 
health.  No  sooner  was  the  evening  meal  over  than  preparations  were 
made  for  bed,  and  in  a  few  minutes  all  of  this  world,  its  cares  and  losses, 
its  trials  and  ambitions,  were  forgotten  in  sleep." 

On  June  14th  he  writes  in  anticipation  of  a  journey  to  Mil- 
ledgeville,  where  he  will  be  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  Convention. 
He  refers  with  feeling  to  Linton's  final  examination,  which  will 
soon  take  place.  It  brings  back  to  memory  the  time  when  he 
sent  his  brother  off  to  college. 

"Well  do  I  remember  with  what  solicitude  and  intensity  of  feeling, 
known  only  to  myself,  I  fitted  you  out  for  your  departure  to  college.  And 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  21.  STEPHENS.  171 

then,  when  all  things  were  ready,  the  hour  arrived,  the  last  words  were 
spoken,  and  in  a  few  moments  more  the  whirling  car  rushed  recklessly  on 
in  the  darkness,  and  I  returned  to  nay  room,  how  I  committed  you  and 
your  fortunes  into  the  hands  of  that  mysterious  Providence  who  guides 
our  destinies.  At  that  time,  owing  to  the  great  feebleness  of  my  health,  I 
hardly  permitted  myself  to  indulge  the  hope  of  living  to  see  the  time  of 
your  graduation.  But  now  your  course  is  nearly  ended,  and  that  period 
has  almost  arrived.  If  you  shall  live  a  few  short  weeks  longer,  you  must 
take  your  stand  among  men.  Have  you  ever  seriously  considered  and  fully 
realized  how  near  you  are  to  so  important  a  crisis  in  life?  If  not,  it  is 
time  that  the  subject,  with  all  its  gravity  and  responsibility,  was  kept  con 
stantly  in  mind.  "Would  that  I  had  time  and  space  to  present  it  in  its 
various  shapes !  The  past  has  been  pleasant ;  you  have  been  agreeably 
entertained  in  looking  at  the  world  at  a  distance,  and  as  a  stranger  or  dis 
interested  spectator,  philosophizing  perhaps  upon  its  various  characters, 
its  pursuits,  its  inconsistencies,  its  passions,  its  shifts,  its  struggles,  and 
its  treacheries.  But  your  position  is  now  to  be  changed,  and  all  these  are 
to  be  encountered.  Some  liken  college  life  to  the  world  in  miniature,  and 
the  illustration  is  not  without  some  aptness.  But  such  a  life  compared  to 
that  of  the  outer  world  is  more  like  sailing  upon  the  unruffled  surface  of 
the  broad  river,  or  the  still,  widening  bay,  just  before  it  issues  from  its 
restricted  channel  and  the  protecting  embrace  of  its  banks  and  capes,  into 
the  wide  expanse  of  waters  just  ahead,  compared  to  the  breasting  and 
weathering  the  mighty  waves  and  raging  billows  that  are  ever  heaving 
and  rolling  and  surging  on  ocean's  bosom.  Life's  passage  is  over  a  tem 
pestuous  sea,  and  well  built,  well  manned,  well  piloted  must  be  the  barque 
that  safely  makes  the  voyage.  Many  spread  their  sails  joyously  to  the 
breeze,  but  few  reach  the  wished-for  haven.  Be  not,  then,  inattentive. 
It  is  an  important  period  of  your  life.  You  never  did  and  never  will 
stand  in  more  need  of  cool  thought,  sober  reflection,  and  good  judgment 
than  now.  Especially  let  not  passion  control  your  feelings.  Life  is  just 
before  you  •,  and  the  part  you  are  to  act  in  it  has  now  soon  to  be  shown, 
and  the  character  you  wish  to  sustain  is  now  to  be  formed." 

The  last  available  corner  of  the  paper  has  now  been  filled,  and 
the  letter  must  come  to  an  end. 

July  2d. — The  final  examination  is  over,  and  Linton,  alone  in 
his  class,  has  gained  the  First  Honor.  Immediately  there  is  a 
slight  change  in  the  tone  of  the  correspondence.  The  brother 
who  has  been  stimulating  him  to  exertion,  arousing  his  ambition 
for  honorable  distinction,  now  that  he  has  won  this  distinction, 
begins  to  speak  of  it  as  a  thing  that  is  satisfactory  and  creditable, 
to  be  sure,  but  no  such  immense  triumph  after  all.  It  was  a 
wise  Mentor  the  young  man  had. 


172  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

"  I  was  indeed  gratified  to  learn  that  you  had  received  the  First  Honor 
in  your  class;  not  that  I  attach  the  least  importance  to  the  mere  show  or 
6clat  of  such  a  distinction,  but  I  was  gratified  to  have  the  evidence  that 
you  had  not  misspent  your  time,  and  that  during  the  four  years  of  your 
absence  you  had  not  been  unmindful  of  the  first  of  all  duties, — your  duty 
to  yourself  in  the  cultivation  of  your  morals  and  your  mind,  and  in  fitting 
yourself  for  usefulness  in  those  scenes  of  life  into  which  you  are  now  about 
to  enter.  ...  In  rendering  yourself  worthy  of  this  distinction,  you  have 
but  done  what  you  ought  to  have  done,  and  deserve  the  same  commen 
dation  due  to  all  persons  who  pursue  a  similar  course  of  conduct,  and 
nothing  more.  From  want  of  a  correct  way  of  viewing  such  things  many 
young  men,  who  otherwise  would  have  succeeded  well  in  life,  have  been 
utterly  ruined  by  being  the  favored  objects  upon  whom  such  distinctions 
have  been  once  bestowed.  The  nature  of  true  honor  is  misunderstood  by 
them." 

However  they  may  misunderstand  it,  he  does  not  mean  that 
his  young  brother  shall  make  their  mistake  and  interpret  a 
certificate  of  having  done  his  duty  into  an  intellectual  patent  of 
nobility.  He  must  not  think  himself  a  conqueror  because  he 
has  learned  to  use  his  weapons  fairly  well :  the  battle  is  all  to 
begin  yet. 

In  this  year  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  Georgia  representation 
in  Congress  by  the  resignation  of  the  Hon.  Mark  A.  Cooper,  who 
had  been  nominated  by  the  Democrats  as  their  candidate  for 
Governor.  To  fill  this  vacancy  the  Hon.  James  H.  Starke, 
of  Butts  County,  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats,  and  Mr. 
Stephens  by  the  Whigs.  The  platform  of  the  Whig  party  was 
substantially  the  same  as  that  laid  down  in  the  Minority  Report 
previously  quoted.  Mr.  Crawford  was  the  Whig  candidate  for 
Governor. 

The  nomination,  though  unsought,  was  accepted,  and  he  pre 
pared  himself  for  an  active  campaign,  having  a  majority  of  about 
three  thousand  to  overcome.  The  personal  influence  that  he  was 
able  to  exercise  was  never  shown  to  greater  advantage  than 
during  this  campaign.  His  peculiarly  youthful  appearance,  his 
slender  figure  and  boyish  voice,  contrasted  so  strangely  with  the 
energy  of  his  appeals,  the  cogency  of  his  arguments,  the  copi 
ousness  of  his  knowledge,  and  the  power  and  persuasiveness  of 
his  eloquence,  as  to  give  to  these  a  double  impressiveness,  and  to 
astonish  as  well  as  convince  his  hearers.  He  had  formed  the 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  173 

habit  of  studying  with  the  most  minute  and  unwearied  diligence 
the  subjects  which  were  to  be  discussed,  and  this  habit,  with  his 
singularly  retentive  memory,  caused  him  never  to  be  at  fault, 
and  alone  was  sufficient  to  make  him  a  most  redoubtable  antago 
nist. 

In  this  campaign  he  met  with  various  humorous  adventures, 
and  was  more  than  once  mistaken  for  a  mere  boy,  and  treated  as 
such  ;  a  misconception  which  he  always  enjoyed,  as  there  was 
generally  an  amusing  scene  of  discomfiture  when  the  error  was 
discovered. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  this  boyish  speaker  possessed  to  an 
extraordinary  degree  the  power  of  swaying  the  multitude,  and 
the  Democrats,  despite  their  strong  majority,  began  to  feel  that 
they  must  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  or  they  would  lose  the 
election.  Accounts  came  down  from  the  mountains  into  Middle 
Georgia  that  this  youthful  challenger  had  vanquished  every 
opponent  who  had  met  him  in  debate ;  so  it  was  thought  prudent 
to  send  an  old  and  proved  champion  to  despatch  him  at  once 
and  get  him  out  of  the  way.  Their  choice  fell  upon  Walter  T. 
Colquitt,  then  thought  the  ablest  stump-speaker  whom  Georgia 
had  produced,  and  who  is  still  remembered  with  admiration  by 
those  who  heard  him  in  the  prime  of  his  powers. 

Mr.  Stephens  had  an  appointment  to  speak  in  the  village  of 
Newnan.  Just  before  the  hour  arrived,  it  was  found  that  Judge 
Colquitt  was  present,  and  the  Democrats  requested  that  he  be 
allowed  to  take  part  in  the  discussion.  The  Whigs,  somewhat 
dismayed  at  the  entrance  of  this  doughty  paladin  into  the  affray, 
were  about  to  refuse,  when  Mr.  Stephens  interfered,  declared 
that  it  would  give  him  pleasure  to  meet  the  judge,  and  cordially 
invited  the  latter  to  share  in  the  debate.  It  is  probable  that  the 
judge  so  far  underrated  the  abilities  of  his  antagonist  as  to  be 
less  cautious  than  his  custom.  Some  one,  we  are  told,  had  fur 
nished  him  with  a  copy  of  the  Journals  of  the  Legislature 
marked  at  those  votes  of  Mr.  Stephens  which  it  was  thought 
might  be  used  against  him.  One  of  these  votes  was  against  the 
payment,  by  Georgia,  of  pensions  to  her  soldiers  who  had  been 
disabled  in  the  Creek  war,  and  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
those  who  had  fallen  ;  another  was  against  paying  the  men  en- 


174  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

gaged  in  Nelson's  Florida  expedition,  by  resolution  of  the  House. 
The  judge  glanced  at  them  hastily,  without  sufficient  examina 
tion  of  the  whole  record,  and  proceeded  to  introduce  them  with 
immense  emphasis  in  his  speech,  appealing  to  the  audience  to 
know  if  they  would  give  their  votes  to  the  man  who  would 
have  refused  a  pension  to  those  who  suffered,  and  to  the  helpless 
widows  and  children  of  those  who  died  in  defence  of  the  country. 
The  effect  on  the  audience  was  powerful.  Mr.  Stephens  in  reply 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  these  persons  were  entitled  to 
pensions  from  Congress,  pensions  to  be  paid  out  of  the  common 
treasury,  to  which  Georgia  as  well  as  the  other  States  contributed. 
That  while  he  heartily  approved  these  pensions,  he  did  not  see 
the  justice  of  Georgia  paying  special  pensions  to  her  soldiers,  who 
were  already  provided  for  by  Congress  for  services  done  to  the 
United  States,  while  she  was  also  paying  her  full  quota,  not  only 
to  these,  but  to  the  pensions  of  all  the  soldiers  from  other  States. 
As  to  the  payment  of  Nelson's  men,  he  had  voted  against  it 
because  it  was  proposed  in  an  unconstitutional  form  by  a  mere 
resolution  instead  of  a  regular  bill ;  and  he  showed  that  when 
the  same  measure  was  properly  introduced  he  had  voted  for  it. 

But  while  the  judge  was  speaking,  Mr.  Stephens  had  sent  for 
the  Senate  Journal,  and  after  making  the  above  explanation, 
added,  that  whether  his  vote  was  right  or  wrong,  it  was  not  for 
his  opponent  to  censure  it,  since  the  Journal  in  his  hand  showed 
that  he,  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  had  voted  against  the  resolu 
tion,  just  as  Mr.  Stephens  had  done  in  the  lower  House.  This 
entirely  turned  the  tables.  The  triumph  was  as  complete  as 
it  was  unexpected,  the  judge  and  his  friends  were  utterly  dis 
comfited,  and  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  county  was  over 
come.  This  campaign  placed  Mr.  Stephens  at  once  among  the 
acknowledged  leaders  of  the  Whig  party  throughout  the  State. 
The  whole  Whig  Congressional  ticket  was  elected  by  the  largest 
majority  given  in  Georgia  for  many  years  ;  and  thus,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-one,  Mr.  Stephens  was  chosen  to  represent  his  native 
State  in  the  Federal  Congress. 

If  Mr.  Stephens  felt  any  triumph  at  the  attainment  of  the 
position  he  now  occupied,  it  was  rendered  joyless  to  him  by 
severe  domestic  affliction, — the  loss  of  his  elder  brother,  Aaron 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  175 

Gricr.  He  had  always  loved  this  excellent  man  with  more  than 
a  brother's  affection.  And  this  companion  during  the  years  of 
childhood  and  orphanage,  the  yoke-fellow  under  the  burdens  of 
poverty  and  care,  the  constant  attendant  in  all  those  seasons  of 
sickness,  each  of  which  seemed  the  harbinger  of  death, — had 
grown  to  love  him  better  than  all  the  world.  By  industry  and 
frugality  he  had  accumulated  a  moderate  fortune,  had  married 
and  settled  on  a  plantation  in  the  same  county.  His  death 
.occurred  a  few  days  after  the  election. 

No  human  being,  except  Linton, — still  almost  too  young  to 
enter  into  full  sympathy  with  him, — knew  the  depth  of  grief 
that  this  bereavement  brought  to  Alexander  Stephens.  If  there 
be  any  time  when  the  loss  of  an  old  and  beloved  friend  causes 
a  keener  pang  than  at  any  other,  it  is  when  that  loss  comes  just 
at  the  opening  of  brighter  fortunes  after  a  period  of  adversity 
which  the  lost  one  had  shared,  and  which  his  exertions  had 
helped  to  retrieve.  When  two  have  borne  together  sufferings 
and  toils,  and  shared  in  the  hope  of  better  days,  and  these  better 
days,  when  they  come,  come  but  to  one, — that  one  feels  an 
anguish  that  he  could  not  have  felt  if  his  companion  had  left 
him  in  the  depth  of  their  trial,  or  after  long  enjoyment  of  the 
reward.  What,  then,  must  have  been  the  pain  to  a  man  in  whom 
fraternal  affection  was  the  deepest  and  most  absorbing  passion 
of  his  nature?  Yet  at  this  time  the  public  thought  the  young 
Congressman  one  of  the  happiest  of  men. 

Without  possessing  the  unusual  vigor  of  intellect  of  his 
brothers,  Grier  Stephens  was  a  man  of  no  mean  abilities.  In 
disposition  he  was  the  most  gentle,  the  most  kindly-natured  of 
men,  and  all  who  knew  him  loved  him.  He  left  a  widow  and 
one  child.  The  latter  did  not  long  survive  him,  but  the  widow 
lives  and  has  never  remarried. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Debate  in  Congress — Humors  of  Mr.  Cobb — Correspondence — Presidential 
Canvass — Anecdotes. 

ON  the  night  of  his  arrival  in  Washington  Mr.  Stephens  was 
attacked  by  severe  illness,  which  lasted  about,  two  weeks.  His 
first  speech  on  the  floor  of  the  House  was  upon  a  question  which 
touched  him  and  his  col  leagues  very  nearly, — their  right  to  their 
seats.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Georgia  Legislature  re 
fused  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  Congress  that  the 
State  should  be  divided  into  Congressional  districts,  on  the 
ground  that  such  a  requirement  infringed  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  reserving  to  the  State  the  right  to  prescribe  "the 
times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  Senators  and 
Representatives."  Mr.  Stephens  favored  the  district  system ; 
but,  as  it  was  not  adopted,  he  was  elected  upon  u  general  ticket." 
The  question  then  arose  in  the  House  whether  members  thus 
elected  were  entitled  to  seats ;  and  it  was  referred  to  a  com 
mittee,  the  majority  of  which  reported  (1)  that  the  second 
section  of  the  Act  of  June,  1842,  for  the  apportionment  of 
Representatives  among  the  States  according  to  the  sixth  census, 
"is  not  a  law  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  valid,  operative,  and  binding  upon  the 
House."  And  (2)  that  all  the  members  of  the  House  (excepting 
the  contested  cases  from  Virginia,  on  which  no  opinion  was 
expressed)  "  have  been  duly  elected  in  conformity  with  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  are  entitled  to  their  seats  in  this 
House." 

In  the  debate  which  followed,  Mr.  Stephens  spoke  against  the 
adoption  of  the  report.  He  argued  that  Congress  possessed  the 
power,  under  the  Constitution,  of  regulating  these  elections ; 
that  the  law  in  question  was  a  proper  exercise  of  that  power ; 
and  that  it  applied  to  the  cases  of  himself  and  his  colleagues. 
176 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  ]-JJ 

He  very  distinctly  expressed  his  unalterable  opposition  to  any 
invasion  by  the  Federal  Government  of  the  rights  of  the  States, 
but  lie  as  distinctly  upheld  the  supremacy  of  that  Government 
in  its  legitimate  sphere.  The  fact  that  he  was  arguing  against 
his  own  right  to  a  seat  had  no  influence  upon  him  :  it  was  his 
duty  to  maintain  what  he  believed  to  be  right  and  justice.  The 
tenor  of  his  argument  and  nature  of  his  position  will  appear 
from  the  following  extract: 

"  There  is,  Mr.  Speaker,  another  particular  also  in  which  I  do  not  agree 
•with  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi.  He  says  that  if  he  believed  the 
second  section  of  the  Apportionment  Act  to  be  constitutional,  he  would  not 
consent,  coming  as  he  does  from  a  State  electing  by  general  ticket,  to  hold 
his  seat  in  this  House.  Now,  sir,  I  come  from  a  State  electing  in  the  same 
way ;  and  I  believe  the  section  of  the  act  alluded  to,  and  now  under  con 
sideration,  to  be  a  constitutional  law  ;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  considered 
as  operative  and  valid,  touching  the  elections  of  members,  in  the  organiza 
tion  of  this  House.  Entertaining  these  opinions,  I  have  been  asked  how 
I  could  consistently  retain  my  seat  as  a  member  of  this  body,  sworn  as  I 
am  to  support  the  Constitution.  My  answer  is.  that  I  submit  the  question 
to  this  House,  the  constitutional  tribunal,  for  its  decision.  This,  sir,  is  a 
constitutional  question  which  individually  concerns  me  but  little  ;  but  one 
in  which  the  people  of  the  State  I  have  the  honor  in  part  to  represent,  as 
well  as  the  people  of  all  the  States,  have  a  deep  interest;  and  one  in  the 
settlement  of  which  the  same  people  have  a  right  to  be  heard.  The  people 
of  Georgia,  sir,  have  a  right  to  representation  here,  either  by  the  general 
ticket  or  district  system.  A  majority  of  that  people,  I  believe,  agree  with 
me  that  the  district  system,  under  existing  laws,  is  the  legal  and  proper 
one.  And  here  I  would  respectfully  dissent  from  the  opinion  of  one  of 
my  colleagues  [Mr.  Black],  expressed  on  a  former  occasion, — that  the 
people  of  that  State  were  united  upon  this  subject,  and  that  the  prevailing 
opinion  of  both  parties  was  in  favor  of  the  general  ticket.  I  think  if  there 
is  any  one  particular  in  which  both  parties  of  that  State  are  more  nearly 
agreed  than  upon  any  other,  it  is  the  district  system. 

"  The  question  involved  in  the  subject  now  under  consideration  is  one 
upon  which  great  difference  of  opinion  seems  to  prevail ;  and  it  is  one 
neither  for  me  nor  a  majority  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  but  for  this  House 
to  determine.  This  House,  by  the  Constitution,  is  made  the  sole  'judge  of 
the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its  members,'  and  if  you  say 
that  the  members  elected  by  general  ticket  are  legally  and  properly  re 
turned,  your  decision,  by  the  Constitution,  is  final  and  conclusive  upon  the 
subject ;  and,  in  that  event,  a  majority  of  the  people  of  Georgia  say  I  am 
to  be  one  of  their  representatives ;  and  if  you  say  the  law  of  Congress  is 
valid,  and  ought  to  be  regarded  as  such,  why,  the  present  delegation  will 

12 


178  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

retire,  and  another  will  be  sent  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  existing 
law  of  the  State.  In  either  event,  the  people,  if  represented  at  all,  ought 
certainly  to  be  represented  by  those  of  their  own  choice. 

"  I  have  been  told  by  some  that  my  position  was  like  that  of  a  suitor  at 
court,  who  claims  a  hearing,  and  at  the  same  time  denies  his  right.  By 
no  means,  sir.  My  position  is  more  like  that  of  the  representative  of  a 
suitor  at  court,  when  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  right  of  recovery,  but  some 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  right  way  to  be  pursued  in  obtaining  it,  and 
which  is  not  to  be  settled  by  the  suitor  or  his  representative,  but  by  the 
court. 

"  Is  a  man  to  be  deprived  of  his  rights  because  he  may  differ  from  the 
court  as  to  the  proper  form  of  action  to  be  brought?  Or,  are  a  people  to 
be  disfranchised  because  they  may  differ  from  this  House  as  to  the  proper 
and  legal  mode  of  election  ?  When  a  man  is  sworn  to  support  a  consti 
tution,  sir,  which  provides  for  its  own  amendment,  I  hold  he  is  as  much 
bound  to  support  an  amendment,  when  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  as  he 
was  to  support  the  original  constitution  5  and  when  he  is  sworn  to  support 
a  constitution  which  provides  a  tribunal  for  the  settlement  of  any  class  of 
cases  arising  under  it,  where  differences  of  opinion  may  prevail,  he  is  as 
much  bound  to  acquiesce  in  the  decision  of  such  tribunal  when  made,  and 
to  the  extent  made,  until  reversed,  in  any  case  so  arising,  as  he  was  bound 
to  be  governed  by  his  own  opinions  in  relation  to  it  before.  This,  sir,  is 
one  of  the  first  principles  of  all  societies,  and  part  of  the  obligation  of 
every  individual  implied  when  he  becomes  a  citizen  of  government,  or 
takes  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Else,  why  should  there  be  a  tribunal  to 
decide  such  questions,  if  obedience  and  acquiescence  to  the  decision,  when 
made,  should  not  be  regarded,  in  every  sense  of  propriety,  right  and 
proper,  both  politically  and  morally  ? 

"Sir,  without  this  rule  there  could  be  no  order  and  no  government; 
but  every  man  would  set  up  his  own  judgment — or  a  much  less  safe  guide, 
his  own  conscience — as  the  rule  of  his  own  acts  ;  and  the  most  lawless 
anarchy  would  be  the  result." 

The  alleged  inconsistency  between  his  views  upon  the  law 
and  his  accepting  a  seat  in  Congress  through  an  election  which 
set  that  law  at  defiance,  led  to  some  sharp  criticism  by  his  col 
league  in  the  House,  the  Hon.  AV.  H.  Stiles.  The  attacks  of 
this  gentleman  were  answered  with  corresponding  spirit,  and  for 
a  while  serious  consequences  were  apprehended. 

For  the  small  details  of  personal  history  at  this  time  we  must 
again  recur  to  the  letters.  On  March  3d  he  gives  an  account  of 
a  walk  taken  that  afternoon  with  Lumpkin  and  Cobb.  Mr. 
Cobb  had  a  great  love  of  humor,  and  an  almost  boyish  fondness 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  170 

for  a  practical  joke,  which  he  retained  throughout  his  life,  in 
adverse  as  well  as  prosperous  fortunes. 

"  While  we  were  passing  the  row  of  hacks  at  the  depot  waiting  for  the 
evening  cars,  he  said  to  Lumpkin  aloud,  '  Here,  Lumpkin,  you  can  get  a 
hack  here.'  In  a  moment  about  twenty  hackrnen  were  around  Lumpkin, 
crying,  *  Want  a  hack,  sir?'  'Hack,  sir?'  'Here's  a  hack,  sir!'  Cobb 
walked  on,  as  if  he  had  done  no  mischief,  leaving  Lumpkin  to  explain 
himself  out  of  the  difficulty,  for  half  of  them  seemed  to  consider  it  a  clear 
engagement." 

On  March  10th  we  learn  that  the  affair  with  Mr.  Stiles  has 
ended,  fortunately,  without  a  hostile  meeting,  and  even  without 
a  challenge.  Good  feeling  has  not  quite  returned,  however,  as 
he  reports  himself  on  friendly  terms  with  all  the  members  from 
Georgia  except  Mr.  Stiles.  He  wants  Linton's  opinion  upon 
his  rejoinder  to  that  gentleman.  About  this  time  Linton  had 
removed  to  Washington,  Georgia,  and'was  reading  law  with  Mr. 
Toombs. 

On  April  22d  he  writes :  "  At  this  time  little  or  nothing  is 
spoken  of  here  but  the  Tariff  and  Texas."  [Question  of  the 
admission  of  Texas.]  "I  have  just  seen  a  letter  of  Mr.  Clay 
to  the  editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  defining  his  position 
on  the  Texas  question.  He  is  against  the  Treaty,  involving  as 
it  does,  in  his  opinion,  a  war  with  Mexico.  It  is  very  full,  clear, 
and  satisfactory/' 

April  23d. — "  We  had  a  rare  show  in  the  House  to-day." 
This  was  a  fight  between  White,  of  Kentucky,  and  Kathbone. 
Some  one  had  reported  that  Mr.  Clay  had  said,  u  We  must  have 
some  sort  of  slaves  in  order  to  keep  our  wives  arid  daughters  out 
of  the  kitchen."  White  characterized  the  report  as  false,  and 
Rathbone,  who  had  endorsed  it,  assaulted  him. 

May  Jfli. — He  has  just  returned  from  the  Whig  Convention 
at  Baltimore,  to  which  he  was  a  delegate,  and  writes  approvingly 
and  hopefully  of  the  ticket,  Clay  and  Frelinglmysen.  "  But 
one  feeling,  one  spirit,  and  one  hope  animated  and  inspired  every 
heart  in  the  countless  thousands.  .  .  .  Not  much  now  said  about 
Texas.  The  Treaty  will  get  but  few  votes  in  the  Senate."  Then 
follows  another  joke  of  Cobb's.  "  You  know  that  the  hack- 
drivers  profess  to  know  every  house  in  town.  A  day  or  two  ago 


180  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Cobb  walked  up  to  one  of  them  and  asked  if  he  could  drive  him 
to  Mr.  McFadden's.  t  Yes,  sir/  was  the  ready  answer.  Cobb 
hopped  in,  and  off  rolled  the  hack.  After  a  while  the  driver 
asked,  '  Where  was  it  you  wanted  to  go  ?'  '  To  Mr.  McFadden's.' 
1  What  street  does  he  live  on?'  'I  don't  know.  You  told  me 
you  could  drive  me  there,  and  you  must/  So  he  had  a  long 
drive,  all  over  town,  the  driver  inquiring  everywhere  for  Mr. 
McFadden." 

On  the  7th  of  May  Mr.  Stephens  spoke  on  the  subject  of  the 
Tariff.  "  I  had  better  attention,"  he  writes,  on  the  next  day, 
"  if  possible,  than  I  had  when  speaking  on  the  district  system. 
.  .  .  The  Treaty  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations." 

The  Tariff  question  being  settled,  parties  prepare  for  a  great 
struggle  on  the  Texas  question.  Great  confusion  is  expected  in 
the  approaching  Democratic  Convention,  the  South  being  irre 
concilable  to  Van  Buren,  and  the  North  to  Benton. 

"  May  27th.  —  This  day.  eight  years  ago,  I  was  in  this  city  for  the  first 
time.  What  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  world  without  and  the  world 
within  since  that  time  !  Who  can  tell  what  changes  are  in  store  for  the 
next  eight  years  to  come  ?  (l?the  curtain  could  be  raised,  what  disclosures, 
what  griefs,  what  troubles  anfi  cares  and  deeds  of  death  would  be  seen  ! 
What  phantoms  our  hopes  and  ambitions  would  seem  to 


May  28th.  —  Is  scribbling  whatever  comes  into  his  mind  while 
waiting  for  the  result  of  the  ballotings  at  Baltimore.  Among 
other  things  he  alludes  to  something  Linton  has  said  of  a  friend 
of  his  being  in  love,  and  the  effects  of  that  passion  upon  him. 
"  He  that  loves  hard  cares  but  little  what  he  eats.  His  passion 
is  his  sustenance,  as  most  passions  are  when  they  take  posses 
sion  of  the  soul.  Osceola,  when  a  prisoner  from  violated  faith, 
pining  and  refusing  nourishment,  was  asked  why  he  did  not 
take  food,  replied,  — 

"  '  I  feed  on  hate,  nor  think  my  diet  spare  !' 

"  I  do  not  know  but  that  he  who  feeds  on  hate  has  quite  as 
nourishing  a  diet  as  he  who  feeds  on  love." 

Most  of  the  other  letters  written  during  this  summer  are  from 
the  various  places  in  the  State  at  which  he  has  been  addressing 
the  people  in  the  Presidential  canvass.  He  threw  his  whole 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

energies  into  it,  and  worked  as  zealously  for  the  election  of  Mr. 
Clay  as  any  other  man  in  the  party.  At  the  village  of  Forsyth, 
he  again  met  his  old  opponent,  Judge  Colquitt,  and  (in  the 
opinion  of  his  friends  at  least)  obtained  even  a  more  signal 
triumph  over  that  gentleman  than  at  his  first  encounter. 

When  Mr.  Stephens  went  to  Washington,  in  the  winter,  to  at 
tend  Congress,  Linton  went  to  the  Law  School  of  the  University 
of  Virginia.  The  correspondence  was  now  actively  kept  up. 
On  December  5th  he  expresses  a  suspicion  that  arrangements 
will  be  made  between  Southern  and  Northern  Democrats,  by 
which  the  former  will  consent  to  the  Tariff,  and  the  latter  will 
agree  to  let  in  Texas.  "So  the  monster  will  be  grinned  at  a 
little  longer  and  endured,  while  we  shall  have  a  great  addition 
to  the  area  of  freedom."  He  advises  his  brother  to  keep  clear 
of  politics  for  the  present,  and  is  more  than  half  inclined  to 
recommend  that  the  abstention  shall  be  perpetual. 

December  10th. — "  Mr.  Adams's  final  triumph  was  to-day,  when  he  pre 
sented  his  petitions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  had  them  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  District.  You  ought  to 
have  seen  him  on  the  announcement  of  the  vote.  He  laughed  outright : 
not  loud,  but  with  a  full  expression.  By  the  by,  Judge  McLean  tells  a 
good  anecdote  of  him.  Some  years  ago,  in  some  flirt,  Rhett  arose  and 
moved  that  all  the  Southern  members  should  leave  the  House,  and  started 
out  himself.  Mr.  Adams  stopped  short  in  his  speech,  looked  at  llhett 
across  the  room,  as  he  was  followed  by  some  others,  and  said,  with  a 
peculiar  expression,  '  What,  you  won't  play  with  us  any  longer,  eh?'  " 

December  20th.— li  Judge  Story  says  that  the  Republican  party  to  which 
he  was  attached  in  1806  and  1809  is  extinct  now.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  had 
done  him  injustice ;  for  I  always  thought  he  was  a  Federalist,  but  it  is  not 
so.  He  was  opposed  to  Adams,  was  a  Republican,  was  a  Jeifersonian,  and 
was  appointed  judge  under  Madison  or  Monroe.  He  used  to  be  in  Con 
gress  the  only  Republican  from  Massachusetts ;  and  he  further  says  that 
most  of  the  old  Federalists  now  are  with  the  Democratic  party, — that  is, 
those  of  them  who  are  alive.  But  he  says  that  the  Republican  party  is 
extinct;  that  he  has  ceased  to  be  surprised  at  anything:  laughs  and  talks 
as  gayly  as  a  boy.  Says  he  is  like  the  Irishman  who  went  to  see  the  fire 
works,  when,  after  some  displays,  a  cask  of  powder  exploded  accidentally, 
and  blew  up  everything.  He  found  himself  in  a  garden,  and  on  coming 
to  himself,  said,  '  What  in  the  divil  will  you  show  next !'  " 

December  22d. — .  .  .  "  Judge  Story  says  that  he  never  told  but  one 
anecdote,  and  he  used  to  tell  that  upon  all  occasions  until  AVebster  stole  it 


OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

from  him,  and  once  had  the  impudence  to  tell  it  in  his  presence.  After 
that  he  foreswore  anecdotes.  This,  of  course,  was  all  fudge,  for  he  is 
always  telling  anecdotes.  .  .  .  Ewing  is  a  great  hand  at  puns.  For  in 
stance,  this  morning  at  the  table,  in  speaking  of  the  abilities  of  the  lawyers 
and  judges  of  England,  .  .  .  and  among  them  Scarlett,  Ewing  remarked 
that  he  was  certainly  the  deepest  red  man  of  any  of  them." 

During  this  year,  as  has  been  seen,  Mr.  Stephens  did  not  take 
any  very  prominent  part  in  the  business  of  Congress.  He  was 
studying  men  and  measures,  and  getting  himself  ready  for  his 
future  work.  Almost  every  night  he  wrote  to  Linton,  and  some 
times  twice  a  day.  The  letters  treat  of  almost  every  conceivable 
subject,  politics,  the  business  of  the  House,  the  incidents  of  the 
day,  the  chat  of  society,  the  men  he  meets,  books,  morals,  phi 
losophy,  and  the  weather.  He  never  loses  an  opportunity  to 
convey,  in  some  guise  or  other,  salutary  counsel  to  his  beloved 
brother ;  and  the  letters  overflow  with  expressions  of  tenderest 
affection.  Notwithstanding  the  frequent  touches  of  humor,  a  tinge 
of  melancholy  pervades  the  whole  correspondence ;  and  the  suc 
cess  he  has  thus  far  achieved  neither  gives  a  brighter  coloring  to 
life  in  his  eyes  nor  exalts  him  in  his  own  estimation.  Notwith 
standing  the  close  intimacy  of  these  letters,  we  find  in  them  no 
half-congratulations,  no  pardonable  taking  of  credit,  no  expres 
sion  of  hopes  for  the  future.  Life  is  passing ;  he  is  doing  his 
duty  in  the  short  space  that  he  thinks  allotted  to  him,  for  the 
night  is  coming  in  which  no  man  can  work. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Judge  Story — Mr.  Clay — A  Great  Crowd — Annexation  of  Texas— Speech 
on  Brown's  Resolutions — Oregon — Anecdote  of  General  Clinch. 

MR.  STEPHENS  begins  the  new  year,  1845,  with  a  letter  of 
eight  pages  to  his  brother.  Among  other  things,  Linton  has 
asked  his  opinion  of  the  comparative  abilities  of  Marshall  and 
Story,  and  he  pronounces  in  favor  of  the  former,  though  admit 
ting  that  he  has  read  but  little  of  the  writings  of  the  latter. 
He  gives  an  anecdote  of  Marshall,  which  Story  told  as  having 
occurred  in  a  case  involving  the  constitutionality  of  the  United 
States  Bank.  "  Chapman  Johnson,  who  was  arguing  upon  the 
side  to  which  the  Chief  Justice's  views  were  supposed  to  be  ad 
verse,  after  a  three  days'  argument,  wound  up  by  saying  that  he 
had  one  last  authority  which  he  thought  the  court  would  admit 
to  be  conclusive.  He  then  read  from  the  reports  of  the  debates 
in  the  Virginia  Convention  what  Marshall  himself  had  said  upon 
the  subject,  when  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  was  discussed. 
At  this,  Story  says,  '  Marshall  drew  a  long  breath  with  a  sort 
of  sigh.  After  the  court  adjourned  he  rallied  the  Chief  Justice 
on  his  uneasiness,  and  asked  him  why  he  sighed/  to  which 
Marshall  replied,  '  Why,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  was  afraid  I 
had  said  some  foolish  thing  in  the  debate ;  but  it  was  not  half 
so  bad  as  I  expected/  Story  indulges  in  a  great  many  such 
anecdotes." 

January  19th. — "Last  night  Mr.  Clay  made  a  show  on  the  Colonization 
question,  and  such  a  show  I  never  saw  before.  Men  came  from  Balti 
more,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  to  say  nothing  of  Alexandria  and  this 
city.  The  House  and  galleries  were  jammed  and  crammed  before  five 
o'clock.  "NVhen  I  came  over  at  half-past  six,  I  found  I  could  not  get  in  at 
the  door  below,  much  less  get  up  the  steps  leading  to  the  House.  The 
people  were  wedged  in  as  tight  as  th^y  could  be  squeezed,  from  outside 
the  door  all  the  way  up  the  steps,  and  the  current  could  neither  move  up 
nor  down.  There  were  several  thousands  still  outside.  I  availed  myself 

183 


134  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

of  my  knowledge  of  the  meanderings  of  an  intricate,  narrow  passage 
under  the  rotunda,  and  round  by  the  Supreme  Court  room,  into  the  alley 
from  the  Clerk's  room,  into  the  House  at  the  side-door  by  the  House  post- 
office  ;  and  through  this  Mr.  Cobb  and  I,  with  Robinson,  of  Indiana,  wound 
our  way,  finding  it  unobstructed  until  we  got  to  the  door,  where  the  crowd 
was  as  tight  as  human  bodies  could  be  jammed ;  but  we  drove  through 
the  solid  mass  and  got  in,  and  passed  on  the  space  by  the  fire  to  the  left 
of  the  Speaker's  chair,  where,  by  looking  over  the  screen,  we  could  see 
the  chair.  When  we  got  to  this  place,  what  a  sight  was  before  our  eyes  ! 
The  great  new  chandelier,  lighted  up  with  gas,  was  brilliant  and  splendid 
indeed  ;  and  then,  what  a  sea  of  heads  and  faces  !  Every  nook  and  corner 
on  the  floor  below,  and  the  galleries  above,  the  aisles,  the  area,  the  steps 
on  the  Speaker's  rostrum,  were  running  over.  The  crowd  was  pushed 
over  the  railing,  and  men  were  standing  on  the  outside  cornice  all  around  ; 
and  they  were  even  hanging  on  the  old  clock  and  the  figure  of  Time.  Such 
a  sight  you  never  saw.  None  in  the  hall  could  turn  :  women  fainted  and 
had  to  be  carried  out  over  the  solid  mass.  At  about  seven  Clay  came,  but 
could  hardly  be  got  in.  The  crowd,  however,  after  a  while  was  opened, 
while  the  dome  resounded  with  uninterrupted  hurrahs.  .  .  .  After  a  while 
order  was  restored.  .  .  .  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  offered  a  resolution  and 
began  speaking  ;  but  one  fellow  crying  '  Clay  !  Clay  !'  the  cry  became  gen 
eral,  and  soon  also  became  general  with,  '  Put  him  down !'  '  Put  him  out !' 
f  Pitch  him  out  of  the  window !'  but  Dayton  held  out  and  kept  speaking 
until  he  was  literally  drowned  with,  '  Down !  down !'  '  Hush !'  '  Clay !  Clay !' 
etc.,  and  then  the  old  hero  rose.  Three  more  cheers  for  Henry  Clay  were 
suggested,  three  more  !  three  more!  THREE  MORE  !  At  length  quiet  reigned. 
Clay  began  speaking,  and  all  were  silent.  Of  his  speech  I  say  nothing. 
He  was  easy,  fluent,  bold,  commanding;  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  eloquent. 
At  about  nine  an  adjournment  was  announced*  ...  I  understand  that 
whole  acres  of  people  had  to  go  away  without  getting  in  at  all.  Shepperd, 
of  North  Carolina,  whom  you  know  as  being  more  Whiggish  than  Clayish, 
rather  snappishly  remarked,  when  we  got  to  our  quarters,  that  Clay  could 
get  more  men  to  run  after  him  to  hear  him  speak,  and  fewer  to  vote  for 
him,  than  any  man  in  America." 

The  great  question  in  Congress  this  session  was  that  of  the 
admission  of  Texas,  for  which  several  plans  had  been  intro 
duced  into  the  House.  Of  course  the  subject  of  slavery  entered 
prominently  into  the  motives  which  influenced  the  judgment  of 
members ;  and  though  the  proposed  measure  was  favored  by  the 
Democrats,  there  was  a  considerable  number  of  that  party  at  the 
North  opposed  to  it,  on  account  of  the  extension  of  slave-hold 
ing  territory  which  would  follow.  On  the  13th  of  January, 
Mr.  Milton  Brown,  of  Tennessee,  introduced  a  series  of  joint 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  J85 

resolutions  for  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  State,  with  a  pro 
vision  that,  at  some  future  time,  not  more  than  four  new  addi 
tional  States  should  be  formed  out  of  the  State  of  Texas,  in 
such  of  which  as  should  lie  south  of  the  "  Missouri  Compro 
mise"  line,  slavery  should  be  optional  with  the  people ;  and  in 
such  as  should  be  north  of  that  line,  slavery  should  be  pro 
hibited.  This  provision  was  strictly  in  conformity  with  the 
terms  of  the  Compromise, — was  indeed  the  very  point  agreed 
to, — yet  the  party  opposed  to  slavery,  in  their  usual  style  of 
keeping  such  pledges,  violently  opposed  the  resolutions. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  resolutions  Mr.  Brown  had  con 
sulted  with  Mr.  Stephens,  and  the  resolutions  embodied  the 
joint  views  of  both.  To  a  number  of  schemes  which  were  pro 
posed  Mr.  Stephens  objected,  and  his  votes  against  them  caused 
a  belief  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  admission,  until  Mr.  Brown's 
resolutions  came  up  for  action,  when  he  explained  his  views,  in 
his  speech  of  January  25th,  which  he  delivered  without  prepa 
ration,  and,  as  it  were,  unexpectedly.  He  began  by  explaining 
the  objections  he  had  to  the  treaty  proposed  by  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  which  were  that 
it  made  no  definite  settlement  of  the  question  of  slavery  in  that 
State,  and  that  it  provided  for  the  assumption  by  Congress  of 
the  debt  of  Texas.  He  considered  it  of  vital  importance  that 
the  question  of  slavery  in  Texas  should  be  definitely  and  consti 
tutionally  settled,  leaving  no  opportunities  for  future  agitation, 
nor  openings  for  dispute,  which  had  been  so  perilous  in  the  Mis 
souri  question.  He  then  touched  upon  the  language  of  the 
official  correspondence,  which  placed  the  admission  of  Texas 
upon  the  ground  of  its  being  necessary  to  strengthen  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  in  the  States,  as  if  it  were  the  duty  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  act  and  legislate  to  that  end. 

"  My  objection  is,  that  the  General  Government  has  no  power  to  legislate 
for  any  such  purpose.  If  I  understand  the  nature  of  this  Government, 
and  the  ground  always  heretofore  occupied  by  the  South  upon  this  subject, 
it  is  that  slavery  is  peculiarly  a  domestic  institution.  It  is  a  matter,  that 
concerns  the  States  in  which  it  exists,  severally,  separately,  and  exclu 
sively ;  and  with  which  this  Government  has  no  right  to  interfere  or  to 
legislate,  further  than  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  rights  under  existing 
guaranties  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  suppress  insubordinations  and  insur- 


186  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

rections  if  they  arise.  Beyond  this  there  is  no  power  in  the  General  Gov 
ernment  to  act  upon  the  subject,  with  a  view  either  to  strengthen  or  to 
weaken  the  institution.  For,  if  the  power  to  do  one  be  conceded,  how  can 
that  to  do  the  other  be  denied?  I  do  not  profess  to  belong  to  that  school 
of  politicians  who'  claim  one  construction  of  the  Constitution  one  day, 
when  it  favors  my  interests,  and  oppose  the  same,  or  a  similar  one,  the 
next  day,  when  it  happens  to  be  against  me.  Truth  is  fixed,  inflexible, 
immutable,  and  eternal ;  unbending  to  time,  circumstances,  and  interests  ; 
and  so  should  be  the  rules  and  principles  by  which  the  Constitution  is 
construed  and  interpreted.  And  what  has  been  the  position  of  the  South 
for  years  upon  this  subject?  What  has  been  the  course  of  her  members 
upon  this  floor  in  relation  to  the  reception  of  abolition  petitions?  Has 
it  not  been  that  slavery  is  a  question  upon  which  Congress  cannot  act, 
except  in  the  cases  I  have  stated,  where  it  is  expressly  provided  by  the 
Constitution;  that  Congress  has  no  jurisdiction,  if  you  please,  over  the 
subject,  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  improper  and  useless,  if  not  unconstitu 
tional,  to  receive  petitions  asking  what  Congress  cannot  constitutionally 
grant?  This  has  been  the  ground  assumed  by  the  South,  and  upon  which 
these  petitions  have  been  rejected  for  years  by  this  House,  until  the  rule 
was  rescinded  at  the  beginning  of  this  session.  And  however  much  gen 
tlemen  from  different  parts  of  the  Union  have  differed  in  opinion  upon  the 
extent  of  the  abstract  right  of  petition,  and  the  propriety  and  expediency 
of  receiving  all  kinds  of  petitions,  whether  for  constitutional  objects  or 
not,  yet  I  believe  they  have  always  been  nearly  all  agreed  in  this,  that 
Congress  has  no  right  or  power  to  interfere  with  the  institutions  of  the 
States.  This,  sir,  is  our  safeguard,  and  in  it  is  our  only  security ;  it  is 
the  outpost  and  bulwark  of  our  defence.  Yield  this  and  you  yield  every 
thing.  Grant  the  power  to  act  or  move  upon  the  subject,  yield  the  juris 
diction,  call  upon  Congress  to  legislate  with  the  view  presented  in  that 
correspondence,  'and  instead  of  strengthening  they  might  deem  it  proper 
to  weaken  those  institutions ;  and  where,  then,  is  your  remedy  ?  I  ask 
Southern  gentlemen  where,  then,  is  their  remedy?  We  were  reminded 
the  other  day  by  a  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Holmes]  that  we 
were  in  a  minority  on  this  floor.  It  is  true  we  are  in  a  minority ;  and  is 
it  wise  in  a  minority  to  yield  their  strong  position,  their  sure  and  safe 
fortress,  to  the  majority,  for  them  to  seize  and  occupy  to  their  destruction  ? 
No,  sir;  never.  Upon  this  subject  I  tell  gentlemen  from  the  South,  and 
the  people  of  the  South,  to  stand  upon  the  Constitution  as  it  is,  and  that 
construction  which  has  been  uniformly  given  to  it  upon  this  point,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Government.  CThis  is  our  shield,  wrought  in  the 
furnace  of  the  Revolution.  (JQs  broad,  ample,  firm,  and  strong;  and  we 
want  no  further  protection  or  security  than  it  provides^ 

The  speaker  then  proceeds  to  notice  the  objections  to  the  pro 
posed  admission.      As  to  any  difficulties  that  foreign   powers 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

may  make,  be  considers  them  as  answered  by  the  fact  that 
Texas  is  now  an  independent  sovereign  power,  and  in  conse 
quence  entitled  to  negotiate  for  herself  without  foreign  inter 
ference.  He  then  proceeds  to  answer  the  member  from  New 
York,  who  had  said  that  the  measure  was  "a  fraud  upon  the 
Constitution." 

"  When  I  cast  iny  eyes,  Mr.  Chairman,  over  the  surface  of  the  world, 
and  survey  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  see  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  alone,  of  all  the  millions  of  the  human  family  who  live  upon  the 
habitable  globe,  are  really  free  and  fully  enjoy  the  natural  rights  of  man ; 
that  all  other  parts  are  dreary,  wild,  and  waste;  and  that  this  is  the  only 
green  spot,  the  only  oasis  in  the  universal  desert,  and  then  consider  that 
all  this  difference  is  owing  to  our  Constitution  ;  that  all  our  rights,  privi 
leges,  and  interests  are  secured  by  it,  I  am  disposed  to  regard  it  with  no 
trifling  feelings  of  unconcern  and  indifference.  It  is,  indeed,  the  richest 
inheritance  ever  bequeathed  by  patriot  sires  to  ungrateful  sons.  I  confess 
I  view  it  with  reverence ;  and,  if  idolatry  could  ever  be  excused,  it  seems 
to  me  it  would  be  in  allowing  an  American  citizen  a  holy  devotion  to  the 
Constitution  of  his  country.  Such  are  my  feelings ;  and  far  be  it  from 
me  to  entertain  sentiments  in  any  way  kindred  to  a  disregard  for  its  prin 
ciples,  much  less  in  contempt  for  its  almost  sacred  provisions." 

He  next  comes  to  the  specific  objection  that  there  was  no 
power  given  to  the  United  States,  in  their  Federal  capacity,  to 
"acquire  territory." 

"  Suppose  I  grant  his  position  and  his  premises  entirely,  does  his  con 
clusion,  in  reference  to  the  proposition  I  advocate,  necessarily  follow? 
Do  the  resolutions  of  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  propose  to  acquire 
territory?  We  are  often  misled  by  the  use  of  words.  .  .  .  We  have  had 
'annexation'  and  l reannexation,'  and  'acquisition  of  territory,'  until 
there  is  a  confusion  of  ideas  between  the  object  desired  and  the  manner 
of  obtaining  it.  To  acquire  conveys  the  idea  of  property,  possession,  and 
the  right  of  disposition.  And  to  acquire  territory  conveys  the  idea  of  get 
ting  the  rightful  possession  of  vacant  and  unoccupied  lands.  If  this  be 
the  sense  in  which  the  gentleman  uses  it,  I  ask,  does  the  plan  of  the  gen 
tleman  from  Tennessee  propose  to  do  any  such  thing?  It  is  true  it  pro 
poses  to  enlarge  and  extend  the  limits  and  boundaries  of  our  Republic. 
But  how?  By  permitting  another  State  to  come  into  the  Union  with  all 
her  lands  and  her  territory  belonging  to  herself.  The  Government  will 
acquire  nothing  thereby,  except  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the 
union.  And  if  I  understand  the  original  substantial  design  of  the  Con 
stitution,  the  main  object  of  its  creation,  it  was  not  to  acquire  territory,  it 
is  true,  but  to  form  a  union  of  States,  a  species  of  confederacy  5  conferring 


158  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

upon  the  joint  government  of  the  confederation,  or  union,  the  exercise  of 
such  sovereign  powers  as  were  necessary  for  all  foreign  national  purposes, 
and  retaining  all  others  in  the  States,  or  the  people  of  the  States,  respect 
ively.  This  was  the  design,  this  was  the  object  of  the  Constitution  itself, 
which  is  but  the  enumeration  of  the  terms  upon  which  the  people  of  the 
several  States  agreed  to  join  in  the  union  for  the  purposes  therein  specified ; 
and  in  this  way  all  the  States  came  into  it,  Georgia  among  the  rest,  with 
her  rich  western  domain  extending  to  the  Mississippi,  out  of  which  two 
States  have  since  grown  up,  and  have  been  likewise  admitted.  When  the 
Government  was  first  formed,  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  refused  to 
come  in  for  some. time.  It  was  not  until  after  it  was  organized  and  com 
menced  operations,  by  eleven  of  the  States,  that  these  two  consented  to 
become  members  of  the  Union.  Could  the  United  States,  those  eleven 
which  first  started  this  General  Government,  be  said  to  have  acquired  ter 
ritory  when  North  Carolina  was  admitted  ?  or  the  twelve  which  composed 
the  United  Stated  when  Rhode  Island  came  in  ?  There  was  in  each  of 
those  cases  an  addition  of  a  State  and  enlargement  of  the  confederated 
Republic,  just  as  there  will  be  if  Texas  be  admitted,  as  proposed  by  the 
gentleman  from  Tennessee  ;  but  no  acquisition  of  territory  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  that  term." 

He  then  proceeds  briefly  to  show  that  the  United  States  could 
constitutionally  acquire  territory,  though  that  was  not  the  case 
at  present,  when  the  proposition  was  to  admit  a  new  State  into 
the  union  of  States.  He  then  takes  up  the  argument  for  the 
proposition. 

"  The  authority  on  which  I  rely  is  no  forced  construction,  but  the  plain, 
simple  language  of  the  Constitution,  which  declares  that — 

"New  States  maybe  admitted  by  Congress  into  this  Union  j  but  no 
new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other 
State ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or 
parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  con 
cerned  as  well  as  of  Congress.' 

"  The  terms  here  used  are  broad,  unqualified,  and  unrestricted.  i  New 
States  may  be  admitted  by  Congress  into  this  Union.'  But  it  is  said  that 
it  was  only  meant  by  these  words  to  give  the  power  to  admit  States 
formed  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  within  their  juris 
diction,  and  not  to  include  a  foreign  State.  To  this  I  might  reply  that  it 
is  a  petitio  principii, — a  begging  of  the  question.  Whether  that  was  the 
meaning  and  intention  is  the  main  inquiry ;  and  from  the  words  used 
no  such  inference  can  be  drawn.  But  the  gentleman  from  New  York 
says  he  believes  that  was  the  meaning  and  intention ;  and  further, 
that  he  believes  if  any  other  opinion  had  been  entertained  the  Consti 
tution  would  never  have  been  ratified.  Well,  sir,  his  belief  is  not  argu- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  189 

merit.  .  .  .  We  are  taught  that  we  should  not  only  believe,  but  be  able 
to  give  a  '  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us.'  And  here  again  I  listened 
for  the  reasons  of  the  gentleman's  faith,  but  heard  nothing  better  than  a 
repetition  of  his  belief. 

"  Let  us,  then,  examine  the  matter.  If  there  is  any  difficulty,  we  must 
look  to  the  words,  the  objects,  and  contemporaneous  history.  As  to  the 
words,  they  are  quite  unambiguous.  The  term  State  is  a  technical  word, 
well  understood  at  that  time.  It  means  a  body  politic, — a  community 
clothed  with  all  the  powers  and  attributes  of  government.  And  any 
State,  even  one  of  those  growing  up  in  the  bosom  of  our  own  territory, 
upon  admission,  may  be  considered  to  some  extent  foreign.  For  if  it  be 
a  State,  it  must  have  a  government  separate  from,  and  to  some  degree 
independent  of,  the  Union.  For  if  it  be  in  the  Union,  then  it  could  not 
be  admitted ;  that  cannot  be  admitted  in  which  is  already  in.  And  if  it 
is  a  State,  and  out  of  the  Union,  seeking  admission,  it  must  be  considered 
quoad  hoc  to  be  foreign.  Now,  as  to  contemporaneous  and  subsequent 
history.  What  relation  did  North  Carolina  hold  to  the  Union  under  the 
new  organization  of  1787  ?  She  refused  to  ratify  the  Constitution,  and 
was  most  clearly  out  of  it.  The  last  article  of  the  Constitution  declared, — 

"  '  The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying/ 

"  But  more  than  nine  ratified :  eleven  did  ;  leaving  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island  out,  as  before  stated.  The  Union  was  formed,  and  the 
Constitution  established  for  those  that  had  ratified,  and  the  Government 
proceeded  to  organization.  North  Carolina  was  then  certainly  out  of  the 
Union.  She  had  the  right  and  power  to  remain  out.  If  she  had,  would 
she  not  have  been  foreign  to  it?  And,  consequently,  was  she  not  foreign 
whenever  the  Government  went  into  operation  under  the  new  Constitution 
without  her  ratification?  The  case  of  Vermont  is  more  in  point.  She 
was  a  separate  and  independent  community,  with  a  government  of  her 
own.  She  was  not  even  one  of  the  original  revolting  thirteen  colonies. 
She  had  never  been  united  in  the  old  Confederation,  and  did  not  recognize 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States." 

[Here  Mr.  Col  lamer,  of  Vermont,  objected  that  Vermont  at 
that  time  did  recognize  the  authority  of  the  United  States.] 

MR.  STEPHENS. — "Yes,  sir;  but  not  over  her.  She  recognized  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  as  we  do  that  of  France  or  England,  or  any 
other  foreign  power.  She  was  a  distinct,  independent  government  within 
herself.  She  had  her  own  constitution,  her  own  legislature,  her  own 
executive,  judiciary,  and  military  establishment,  and  exercised  all  the  facul 
ties  of  a  sovereign  and  independent  State.  She  had  her  own  post-office 
department  and  revenue  laws  and  regulations  of  trade.  The  United  States 
did  not  attempt  to  exercise  any  jurisdiction  over  her.  The  gentleman  from 
Vermont  says  that  New  York  claimed  jurisdiction  over  her,  and  finally  gave 


190  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

her  consent  for  the  admission  of  Vermont  as  a  State.  This  is  true.  But 
Vermont  did  not  recognize  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York ;  she  bade  de 
fiance  to  it.  And  after  years  had  rolled  on  in  this  situation,  she  treated 
with  New  York  as  one  sovereign  treats  with  another,  and  paid  thirty 
thousand  dollars  to  New  York  for  a  relinquishment  of  that  jurisdiction 
which  she  would  not  allow  to  be  exercised,  and  was  then  admitted  into 
the  Union  as  one  of  the  States.  These  are  the  facts  of  that  case." 

The  speaker,  after  refuting  some  other  objections,  proceeds  to 
give  the  reasons  that  induce  him  to  advocate  the  proposition. 
These  are:  the  kindred  and  sympathy  of  the  two  peoples;  the 
advantage  of  having  all  the  cotton-  and  sugar-growing  interests 
of  the  continent  united  and  subject  to  the  same  laws ;  the  im 
portance  of  having  no  difficulties  or  inequalities  in  the  commerce 
which  found  its  outlet  by  the  Mississippi ;  the  desirableness  of 
opening  this  vast  and  fertile  territory  to  our  accumulating  or 
migrating  population,  which  they  might  people  and  build  up 
without  forfeiting  their  American  citizenship.  He  thus  con 
cludes  : 

"With  this  question  is  also  to  be  decided  another  and  a  graver  one; 
which  is,  whether  the  limits  of  the  Republic  are  ever  to  be  enlarged? 
This  is  an  important  step  in  settling  the  principle  of  our  future  extension. 
Nor  do  I  concur  with  gentlemen  who  seem  to  apprehend  so  much  danger 
from  that  quarter.  We  were  the  other  day  reminded  by  the  gentleman 
from  Vermont  of  the  growth  of  the  Roman  Empire,  which  went  on  increas 
ing  and  enlarging  until  it  became  unwieldy  and  fell  of  its  own  weight ; 
and  of  the  present  extent  of  England,  stretching  to  all  sections  of  the  world, 
governing  one-sixth  of  the  human  family,  and  which  is  now  hardly  able 
to  keep  together  its  extensive  parts.  But  there  is  a  wide  difference 
between  these  cases.  Rome  extended  her  dominions  by  conquests.  She 
made  the  rude  inhabitants  of  her  provinces  subjects  and  slaves.  She 
compelled  them  to  bear  the  yoke:  jngum  subire  was  the  requisition  of  her 
chieftains.  England  extends  her  dominion  and  power  upon  a  different 
principle.  Hers  is  the  principle  of  colonization.  Her  distant  provinces 
and  dependencies  are  subject  to  her  laws,  but  are  deprived  of  the  rights 
of  representation.  But  with  us  a  new  system  has  commenced,  suited  to 
and  characteristic  of  the  age.  It  is,  if  you  please,  the  system  of  a  Con 
federation  of  States,  or  a  republic  formed  by  the  union  of  the  people  of 
separate  independent  States  or  communities,  yielding  so  much  of  the 
national  character  or  sovereign  powers  as  are  necessary  for  national  and 
foreign  purposes,  and  retaining  all  others  for  local  and  domestic  objects 
to  themselves  separately  and  severally.  And  who  shall  undertake  to  say 
to  what  extent  this  system  may  not  go  ?  .  .  . 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  191 

"We  live,  sir,  not  only  in  a  new  hemisphere,  but,  indeed,  in  a  new  age; 
and  we  have  started  a  new  system  of  government,  as  new  and  as  different 
from  those  of  the  old  world  as  the  Baconian  system  of  philosophy  was 
novel  and  different  from  the  Aristotelian,  and  destined,  perhaps,  to  pro 
duce  quite  as  great  a  revolution  in  the  moral  and  political  world  as  his  did 
in  the  scientific.  Ours  is  the  true  American  system ;  and  though  it  is  still 
regarded  by  some  as  an  experiment,  yet,  so  far,  it  has  succeeded  beyond 
the  expectations  of  many  of  its  best  friends.  And  who  is  prepared  now 
to  rise  up  and  say,  '  Thus  far  it  shall  go,  and  no  farther'  ? 

"  But  I  am  in  favor  of  this  measure  for  another  reason.  It  is,  as  the 
honorable  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  said  in  his  open 
ing  speech,  in  one  sense  and  in  one  view,  a  sectional  question, — a  Southern 
question.  It  will  not  promote  our  pecuniary  interests,  but  it  will  give  us 
political  weight  and  importance ;  and  to  this  view  I  am  not  insensible. 
And  though  I  have  a  patriotism  that  embraces,  I  trust,  all  parts  of  the 
Union,  which  causes  me  to  rejoice  to  see  all  prosperous  and  happy ;  and 
though  I  believe  I  am  free  from  the  influence  of  unjust  prejudices  and 
jealousies  toward  any  part  or  section,  yet  I  must  confess  that  my  feelings 
of  attachment  are  most  ardent  towards  that  with  which  all  my  interests 
and  association  are  identified.  And  is  it  not  natural  and  excusable  that 
they  should  be  ?  The  South  is  my  home — my  fatherland.  There  sleep 
the  ashes  of  my  sires ;  there  are  my  hopes  and  prospects ;  with  her  my 
fortunes  are  cast ;  her  fate  is  my  fate,  and  her  destiny  my  destiny.  Nor 
do  I  wish  to  'hoax'  gentlemen  from  other  sections  upon  this  point,  as  some 
have  intimated.  I  am  candid  and  frank  in  my  acknowledgment.  This 
acquisition  will  give  additional  power  to  the  southwestern  section  in  the 
national  councils ;  and  for  this  purpose  I  want  it, — not  that  I  am  desirous 
to  see  an  extension  of  the  i  area  of  slavery,'  as  some  gentlemen  have  said 
its  effects  would  be.  I  am  no  defender  of  slavery  in  the  abstract.  Liberty 
always  had  charms  for  me,  and  I  would  rejoice  to  see  all  the  sons  of  Adam's 
family,  in  every  land  and  clime,  in  the  enjoyment  of  those  rights  which 
are  set  forth  in  our  Declaration  of  Independence  as  '  natural  and  inalien 
able,'  if  a  stern  necessity,  bearing  the  marks  and  impress  of  the  hand  of 
the  Creator  himself,  did  not,  in  some  cases,  interpose  and  prevent.  Such 
is  the  case  with  the  States  where  slavery  now  exists.  But  I  have  no  wish 
to  see  it  extended  to  other  countries  ;  and  if  the  annexation  of  Texas  were 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  extending  slavery  where  it  does  not  now  and  would 
not  otherwise  exist,  I  should  oppose  it.  This  is  not  its  object,  nor  will  it 
be  its  effect.  Slavery  already  exists  in  Texas,  and  will  continue  to  exist 
there.  The  same  necessity  that  prevails  in  the  Southern  States  prevails 
there,  and  will  prevail  wherever  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  African  races  are 
blended  in  the  same  proportions.  It  matters  not,  so  far  as  this  institution 
is  concerned,  in  the  abstract,  whether  Texas  be  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it. 
That,  therefore,  is  not  my  object :  but  it  is  the  political  advantages  it  will 
secure,  with  the  questions  settled  as  proposed, — leaving  no  door  open  for 


192  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

future  agitation, — and  thus  preserving  a  proper  balance  between  the  dif 
ferent  sections  of  the  country.  This  is  my  object-,  and  is  it  not  proper 
and  right? 

"  If  we  look  around,  we  see  the  East,  by  her  economy,  her  industry,  and 
enterprise,  by  her  commerce,  navigation,  and  mechanic  arts,  growing  opu 
lent,  strong,  and  powerful.  The  West,  which  a  few  years  ago  was  nothing 
but  an  unbroken  wilderness,  embracing  the  broad  and  fertile  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  where  the  voice  of  civilization  was  never  heard,  is  now  teem 
ing  with  its  millions  of  population.  The  tide  of  emigration,  still  rolling 
in  that  direction,  has  already  reached  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  will  soon  break  over  those  lofty  barriers,  and  be  diffused  in  the  exten 
sive  plains  of  Oregon.  Already  the  West  vies  for  the  ascendancy  on  this 
floor,  and  why  should  not  the  South  also  be  advancing?  Are  her  limits 
never  to  be  enlarged,  and  her  influence  and  power  never  to  be  increased  ? 
Is  she  to  be  left  behind  in  this  race  for  distinction  and  aggrandizement,  if 
you  please  ?  As  one  of  her  sons,  I  say,  No.  Let  her,  too,  enter  the  glorious 
rivalry;  not  with  feelings  of  strife,  jealousy,  or  envy, — such  sentiments 
are  not  characteristic  of  her  people, — but  with  aspirations  prompted  by 
the  spirit  of  a  laudable  emulation  and  an  honorable  ambition." 

The  vote  was  taken  on  the  resolutions  the  same  day,  and  they 
were  carried  by  a  vote  of  120  to  98,  seven  Southern  Whigs, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Stephens,  uniting  with  the  Northern 
Democrats.  These  seven  were  afterwards  held  up  to  odium  by 
the  Whig  party  throughout  the  country,  and  denounced  with 
bitter  malignity  as  traitors  to  the  party.  In  the  Senate,  an  alter 
native  proposition  was  offered  by  Mr.  Benton,  subject  to  the 
President's  approval.  This  was  agreed  to  by  the  House,  and 
finally  the  matter  was  placed  in  President  Tyler's  hands,  who 
approved  the  House  proposition  on  the  1st  of  March,  and  at 
once  despatched  a  messenger  with  it  to  Texas,  thus  accomplish 
ing  a  measure  which  added  a  new  State,  with  two  hundred  and 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  four  square  miles  of  territory 
to  the  Union,  just  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  office. 

Mr.  Stephens's  remarks  in  this  speech,  to  the  effect  that  he 
was  l(  no  defender  of  slavery  in  the  abstract,"  gave  rise  to  some 
bitter  denunciation  throughout  the  South,  and  were  interpreted 
by  some  to  mean  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  system  of  African 
slavery  as  it  existed  in  the  Southern  States.  But  the  context 
showed  that  he  there  as  elsewhere  held  that  where  an  inferior 
rac&like  the  African  co-existed  with  the  white  race,  the  welfare 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  193 

of  both  required  that  the  inferior  should  be  in  subordination  to 
the  superior.  He  boldly  and  triumphantly  defended  his  position 
in  every  subsequent  campaign  in  his  State,  maintaining  that  this 
"  peculiar  institution,"  as  it  was  termed  at  the  South, — the  right 
to  the  service  of  a  certain  class  of  persons, — was  not  slavery  as 
denned  in  public  law  and  the  Justinian  code,  but  only  the  legal 
subordination  of  an  inferior  to  a  superior  race,  with  a  view  to 
the  best  interests  of  both. 

Under  date  of  January  30th  we  find  a  long  letter,  chiefly 
about  Oregon,  which  he  considers  next  in  importance  to  the 
Texas  question.  He  is,  however,  somewhat  apprehensive  of  a 
war  with  Great  Britain  in  this  case,  Oregon  being  at  that  time 
in  the  joint  occupation  of  the  two  powers,  under  the  provisions 
of  the  Treaty  of  Washington.  He  remarks,  "  The  North,  old 
Adams  at  their  head,  I  think,  will  be  among  the  foremost  to 
bring  about  a  collision  with  England.  They  now  want  war. 
That  is  the  way,  they  think,  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.77 

February  23d. — He  has  been  to  a  dinner-party  where  some 
good  jokes  were  told;  among  others,  one  on  General  Clinch,  of 
Georgia,  who  was  present.  "  Some  time  ago,  upon  a  call  of  the 
House,  the  general  was  not  present  at  first,  but  came  in  (having 
been  sent  for)  just  as  he  heard  his  name  called  by  the  Clerk ;  and 
all  vexed  and  mad,  and  puffing  and  blowing,  answered  to  his 
name  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  '  NO  !'  I  said  to  him,  '  General, 
say  Here  ;  it  is  a  call  of  the  House  -,'  to  which  he  replied,  l  Oh, 
d — n  it,  I  don't  care.  I'm  against  all  they  do,  anyhow  !' " 


l«   . 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Domestic  Arrangements — Trip  to  Florida — Home  News  and  Surgical 
Practice — Deaths  of  Friends — A  "  Keal  Soaker" — Election  of  Governor 
Crawford. 

SOON  after  reaching  home,  he  writes  Lin  ton  a  long  letter, 
giving  an  account  of  his  return,  and  the  welcome  he  met  from 
all,  down  to  his  dog.  A  lover  of  dogs  he  has  been  all  his  life, 
and  many  a  passage  in  his  letters  shows  how  strong  a  hold  these 
humble  but  faithful  creatures  had  upon  his  affections.  The  tone 
of  the  letter  is  very  sad,  and  it  concludes,  "  I  must  stop.  I  feel 
too  melancholy  to  write  more.  I  did  not  think  such  feelings 
would  press  upon  me  at  my  return.  Those  I  used  to  look  out 
for  on  my  coming  home  are  not  here.  They  are  dead  and  gone, 
and  the  thought  almost  overpowers  me." 

The  allusion  here  is  not  only  to  his  brother,  Aaron  Grier,  but 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bird,  to  whom  he  had  been  greatly  attached, 
and  who  had  died  this  winter.  He  had  been  living  with  them 
for  several  years.  In  March,  the  house  and  land  being  put 
up  for  sale,  Mr.  Stephens  became  the  purchaser,  and  began 
housekeeping.  In  a  letter  soon  after,  he  gives  an  account  of  his 
first  experience  in  this  line. 

March  17th. — "  Since  I  have  been  keeping  Bachelor's  Hall,  Bob*  (who 
has  been  running  all  about  town  during  my  absence  in  Washington)  has 
been  kept  at  home  more  than  his  wont.  He  is  now  the  main  man  upon 
the  place;  attends  to  the  horse  and  hogs,  brings  in  breakfast,  dinner,  and 
supper,  pours  out  the  coffee,  and  waits  upon  the  table.  Old  Mat  cooks, 
and  Bob  and  Pierce  do  the  rest.  Who  carries  the  keys  I  don't  know.  I 
have  laid  in  a  supply  of  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  etc. ;  but  where  it  is  kept  and 
who  keeps  it  I  don't  know.  .  .  .  Bob  told  me  the  other  day  he  would  have 
to  buy  some  chickens  somewhere  before  long.  I  told  him  to  buy  them ; 
and  we  continue  to  have  chicken  every  day,  but  I  can't  tell  where  they 

*  His  servant  and  factotum. 
194 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  195 

come  from.  To-day  I  missed  Bob  at  dinner,  and  was  told  he  had  gone  to 
mill.  So  I  conclude  that  we  are  out  of  meal,  or  that  Bob  wanted  to  take 
an  airing." 

March  20th. — He  has  been  on  a  visit  with  Cousin  Sabrina 
Kay  to  the  old  homestead,  and  at  the  grave-yard  gathered  "  a 
pale  lily  and  a  purple  box-vine  flower." 

Linton  had  gone  from  the  University  of  Virginia  to  Cam 
bridge,  to  which  point  his  brother  addresses  him  a  letter  on 
April  20tli,  written  at  night. 

"  The  night  is  lovely  beyond  description.  The  moon  shines  bright,  the 
air  just  stirs  enough  to  rustle  slightly  among  the  now  full-grown  leaves. 
The  whippoorwill  is  heard  at  a  distance,  and  ever  and  anon  the  mocking 
bird  sends  forth  his  sweet  notes  upon  the  bosom  of  the  breeze.  To  sit  at 
my  window  and  look  out  upon  the  sleeping  earth  is  like  listening  to  sweet 
music." 

The  letters  in  June  are  but  few.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the 
month  he  took  a  trip  to  Florida  with  Mr.  Toombs  and  others. 
On  June  30th  he  writes  from  home,  giving  an  account  of  Bob's 
marriage.  Bob,  it  appears,  had  grown  discontented  with  the 
charges  of  his  laundress,  so  took  a  wife  as  a  measure  of  economy, 
"  to  get  his  washing  done  for  less  than  '  thrip  a  piece.'  So  he 
took  his  clothes  over  to  Rhome's,*  and  this  was  the  marriage." 

On  July  22d  the  topic  of  interest  is  Pup,  the  dog,  who  has 
been  seized  with  some  strange  affection.  Next  day  another 
bulletin  is  issued : 

"  Poor  Pup  is  much  worse  than  he  was  yesterday.  He  cannot  walk  or 
crawl  to-day.  I  think  he  has  lock-jaw.  He  looks  anxiously  at  all  who  go 
to  see  him,  and  wags  his  tail  when  called.  I  have  had  him  put  on  the  back 
piazza,  where  he  can  get  water  without  trouble.  I  am  very  fearful  that 
the  poor  fellow  who  met  me  so  cordially  on  my  return,  when  I  was  so  filled 
with  sadness,  will  himself  be  numbered  with  the  dead  before  another  sim 
ilar  opportunity  occurs.  I  had  become  very  much  attached  to  the  dog,  for 
the  reason,  I  suppose,  that  he  was  so  much  attached  to  me.  When  I  went 
away  he  was  always  the  first  to  meet  me  on  my  return,  and  was  always  so 
glad  to  see  me.  If  he  dies  I  shall  miss  him,  and  shall  again  feel  the  truth 
of  the  maxim  that  all  things  here  below  are  vain  and  illusory." 

On  July  27th  we  have  another  report : 

*  Peter  G.  Khome,  a  citizen  of  the  town. 


196  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

"  Pup  is  a  little  better.  I  have  been  giving  him  shocks  from  the  gal 
vanic  battery.  He  walked  ten  steps  this  morning.  The  shower-bath  also 
I  have  tried  upon  him,  and  think  that  did  him  most  good." 

Under  this  treatment,  we  are  happy  to  record,  Pup  entirely 
recovered,  as  we  learn  in  a  letter  of  eight  pages,  seven  about 
the  weather  and  one  about  Pup. 

Early  in  August  there  is  an  accession  to  the  little  family,  for 
he  and  John  Bird  have  been  living  together,  and  now  a  young 
friend,  George  F.  Bristow,  has  begun  boarding  with  them. 
They  have  also  taken  into  the  house  a  negro  boy,  Pierce  (men 
tioned  above),  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more. 

On  August  24th  we  have  a  dolorous  account  of  a  disappoint 
ment  of  his.  He  was  anxious  to  be  alone,  and  six  men  called 
upon  him  and  stayed  to  dinner. 

"  Would  you  know  how  I  entertained  them  ?  I  lay  in  the  little  shed 
room  most  of  the  time,  the  company  sitting  on  the  back  porch,  and  while 
they  talked,  I  either  snored  or  read  Byron.  ...  I  do  dislike  to  be  bored 
by  company  when  I  wish  to  be  alone ;  and  if  I  ever  was  in  that  humor 
it  was  to-day.  I  longed  to  be  alone,  shut  out  entirely  from  the  world. 
There  comes  over  me  sometimes  a  kind  of  depression,  a  sickening  at  the 
heart,  and  weariness  of  life.  .  .  .  [Yet  there  is  a  pleasure  in  these  indul 
gences.  Indeed,  what  state  of  mind  is  without  pleasurejy  Even  rage, 
anger,  envy,  and  hate  are  pleasant  while  they  are  felt.  And  as  for  sorrow 
and  grief,  Solomon  says  it  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than 
to  the  house  of  mirth.  Hence  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  tragedies,  which 
is  so  great  that  we  will  even  pay  to  be  made  to  weep.  But  enough  of  this. 
Since  I  commenced  writing  a  little  cloud  has  formed  overhead  and  a  little 
to  the  northeast." 

And  he  branches  off  into  mere  meteorology.  Indeed,  he  has 
had  more  excuse  than  usual  for  watching  the  weather.  It  has 
been  a  summer  of  terrible  drought,  and  everything  is  suffering. 
The  little  cloud  to  the  northeast  has  brought  a  slight  shower, 
but  what  is  wanted,  he  says,  is  "  a  real  soaker."  This  phrase, 
he  explains,  is  borrowed  from  an  anecdote  told  by  Foster  of 
Madison.  At  some  droughty  visitation  the  people  had  met  at  a 
country  church  to  pray  for  rain.  "  Several  of  the  brethren  had 
held  forth  and  prayed  for '  gentle  and  refreshing  showers/  when 
an  old  sinner  who  felt  a  great  interest  in  the  matter,  got  up  and 
left  the  meeting-house,  and  cursing  the  whole  concern  for  doing 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  1L  STEPHENS.  197 

no  better,  said  he  wouldn't  give  a  d — n  for  any  'gentle  and 
refreshing  showers ;'  what  he  wanted  was  a  real  soaker" 

On  September  17th  he  adverts  to  the  news  he  has  just  heard 
of  the  death  of  Judge  Story,  and  sadly  remembers  the  pleasant 
hours  he  has  spent  in  his  company. 

"  I  do  not  know  when  the  death  of  any  person  has  affected  me  more 
than  that  of  Judge  Story.  Last  winter  I  spent  my  time  at  Washington 
more  agreeably  than  I  thought  I  ever  could  spend  it  at  that  place :  and  I 
attributed  this  almost  entirely  to  the  agreeable  and  companionable  quali 
ties  of  that  singular  and  excellent  man.  I  formed  for  him  a  strong  at 
tachment,  and  I  promised  myself  many  a  hearty  laugh  with  him  next 
winter.  Alas,  that  hope  is  blasted,  and  it  does  not  now  seem  that  I  could 
visit  the  place  of  my  last  winter-quarters,  where  everything  is  so  associated 
with  him,  without  feelings  of  the  deepest  pain.  I  never  saw  a  man  of  his 
age  so  full  of  life  and  humor;  and  judging  from  his  appearance,  one  would 
have  supposed  that  he  would  live  many  long  years  to  come." 

Five  days  later  he  again  writes  from  a  sorrowful  heart.  His 
old  friend  Mr.  Bristow,  clerk  of  the  court,  from  whom  in  his 
earlier  days  he  had  received  much  kindness,  has  just  died.  The 
day  before  Mr.  Stephens  had  paid  him  a  last  visit. 

"  I  never  saw,"  he  writes,  "  a  family  more  deeply  distressed.  The  effect 
of  their  sorrow  upon  me  was  overwhelming.  It  brought  to  mind  the 
scenes  of  other  days,  and  the  sorrows  I  have  felt.  As  one  and  another  of 
the  children  would  come  in  and  gaze  upon  their  dying  father,  I  could  fully 
realize  the  intensity  of  the  pang  that  caused  such  intensity  of  sorrow,  for 
I  too  had  felt  the  same.  It  seemed  as  fresh  in  memory  as  if  it  had  been 
but  yesterday,  when  /stood  by  the  bedside  of  a  dying  father  and  anxiously 
watched  his  heaving  breast.  I  felt  his  failing  pulse.  And  when  the  last 
long  breath  was  drawn  with  a  piteous  moan,  it  seemed  as  if  I  too  must 
die.  It  seemed  yet  fresher  than  the  incidents  of  yesterday  when  I  saw 
my  poor  brother — But,  oh,  God  ! — I  cannot  write.  The  slightest  thought 
connected  with  him  brings  right  before  me,  as  plainly  and  distinctly  as  in 
real  life,  all  the  scenes  of  that  distressing  night,  and  opens  afresh  all  its 
bleeding  wounds.  Life  seems  to  me  to  have  in  it  but  little  good.  It  is 
made  up  of  lying  vanities,  an  empty  and  cheating  train,  and  hopes  which 
result  in  nothing  but  vexation,  disappointment,  and  remorse.  .  .  .  But 
enough.  It  is  nearly  the  time  for  the  funeral  service,  and  I  must  away  to 
see  the  end  of  one  who  has  done  me  many  favors." 

This  year  Crawford  (Whig)  was  elected  Governor  over 
McAllister  (Democrat),  and  in  the  Legislature  the  Whigs  were 
in  a  small  majority,  so  small  that  great  caution  was  necessary  in 


198  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

availing  themselves  of  it.  The  party  also  was  not  harmonious 
in  the  matter  of  the  United  States  Senatorship;  and  Berrien 
received  so  small  a  vote  in  caucus  that  he  resigned.  Particulars 
are  given  in  a  letter  of  November  10th,  in  which  the  writer  says 
that  he  has  been  two  days  in  Milledgeville,  but  abstained  from 
using  any  influence,  and  "  left  mainly  to  keep  out  of  the  excite 
ment."  In  another  letter  he  suggests  that  Lin  ton  join  him  in 
Washington  in  December,  and  that  he  then  return  home  and 
begin  business  in  Crawfordville.  Sayre  will  go  upon  the  bench, 
Toombs  will  go  to  Congress,  Lumpkin  is  about  to  remove  to 
Athens,  and  the  prospect  for  a  young  lawyer  on  the  circuit  is 
good.  A  little  bit  of  domestic  news  follows.  He  has  settled 
with  John  L.  Bird*  and  bought  the  two  servants  he  is  now 
employing,  Pierce  and  old  Mat,  the  cook.  For  the  latter  he 
pays  a  rather  high  price,  as  she  is  very  old, — a  hundred  dollars  : 
but  he  does  not  object,  because,  as  he  says,  John  owes  him  money, 
and  is  Linton's  cousin  [not  Alexander's],  and  he  likes  him. 
Old  Mat  turned  out  not  a  bad  bargain  after  all. 

On  November  17th  we  hear  that  .Judge  Berrien,  the  late 
Senator, — readers  will  remember  the  Minority  Report, — had  been 
run  by  the  Whigs  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  his  own 
resignation,  and  triumphantly  elected,  getting  the  vote  of  every 
Whig  present. 

On  the  25th  he  writes  from  Washington,  D.  C.,  where  he  has 
engaged  rooms  at  his  old  boarding-house,  Mrs.  Carter's.  He 
went  to  Judge  Story's  room,  and  indulges  in  mournful  memo 
ries  of  its  former  occupant,  whose  cheerful  nature  and  abundant 


*  This  John  L.  Bird  wont  to  college  with  his  cousin  Linton.  Mr. 
Stephens  advancing  the  money  for  his  education,  and  they  graduated 
together.  John  then  read  law  with  Mr.  Stephens,  and  took  an  office  in 
Crawfordville,  while  Linton  went  to  the  University  of  Virginia  and  to 
Cambridge.  On  his  return,  in  1846,  he  and  his  cousin  Bird  had  an  office 
together  until  Linton  married  and  removed  to  Sparta.  John  remained 
in  Crawfordville  as  an  inmate  of  Mr.  Stephens's  family.  He  rose  to  dis 
tinction  in  his  profession,  represented  his  senatorial  district  in  the  General 
Assembly,  and  was  Senator  elect  when  he  died.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
brilliant  talents  and  great  promise,  when  prematurely  cut  off  by  consump 
tion,  in  1853.  This  sale  of  old  Mat  was  in  settlement  of  the  balance  due 
Mr.  Stephens  for  money  advanced  for  his  education. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  199 

humor  he  had  enjoyed  so  much  a  year  before.  "  The  last  time 
I  saw  the  old  judge  was  in  that  room.  It  was  on  the  morning  I 
left  for  home  last  spring, — or  rather  the  night  before.  I  went  to 
take  my  leave  of  him,  conversed  some  time,  and  he  laughed  and 
joked  all  the  while.  He  bade  me  a  hearty  and  friendly  farewell. 
Little  did  I  then  think  that  I  should  never  see  him  again/7 

December  6th. — Linton  expects  to  leave  Cambridge  for  home 
in  a  day  or  two.  So  he  gives  him  minute  directions  how  to 
arrange  matters,  what  to  do  with  his  trunk,  and  what  precautions 
to  take  in  travelling;  for  instance,  on  cars  and  steamboats  to  keep 
as  far  from  the  engine  as  possible.  Linton  will  stop  in  Wash 
ington,  so  he  furnishes  special  directions  how  to  find  Mrs.  Car 
ter's.  He  forgets  that  this  loved  brother  of  his  is  now  a  man. 
He  has  so  long  watched  over  him  with  a  fatherly  fondness,  that 
he  feels  as  if  he  were  still  a  boy.  And  yet  he  might  now,  when 
Linton  is  prepared  to  take  his  place  in  the  world  of  men,  con 
sider  himself  acquitted  of  his  guardianship.  He  has  given  his 
brother  the  best  education  that  could  be  had, — far  better  than  he 
had  himself  enjoyed, — has  watched  over  him  and  guided  him 
with  the  wisdom  of  a  man  and  the  tenderness  of  a  woman.  If 
we  have  quoted,  and  shall  still  quote,  liberally  from  these  letters, 
it  is  because  this  relation  between  him  and  his  brother  was  one 
of  the  leading  traits  of  his  life^occupied  more  of  his  thoughts 
than  any  other  one  subject,  alnd  unless  it  be  comprehended  in  all 
its  extent  and  depth,  his  character  will  not  be  rightly  understood. 
The  younger  brother  fully  repaid  the  affection  thus  lavished 
upon  him,  and  nothing  loosened  the  bond  between  them  until  it 
was  severed  by  death. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Connexion  with  the  Whigs — Opinion  of  President  Polk — Disljfyte  with 
Mexico — War  hreaks  out  —  Correspondence  —  The  Oregon  Question  — 
Opinion  of  Mr.  Calhoun — State  of  Things  in  Congress — Spe'ech  on  the 
Mexican  War — Letter  of  Judge  McLean — Misunderstanding  with  the 
Hon.  Herschel  V.  Johnson — A  Challenge  sent  and  refused. 

\MK.  STEPHENS'S  political  action  at  this  time  was  so  generally 
in  accord  with  that  of  the  Whigs,  that  he  was  universally  looked 
to  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  that  party,  though  he  did  not  con 
sider  himself  as  pledged  to  it  any  further  than  for  the  time  that 
their  measures  and  policy  should  have  his  approbation  ;~)nor  did 
he  consider  himself  in  any  way  precluded  from  taking  an  inde 
pendent  course  should  his  judgment  so  counsel.  His  action  in 
the  matter  of  the  admission  of  Texas  had  at  first  excited  gen 
eral  hostility  to  him  in  the  Whig  press  of  Georgia,  with  a  dis 
position  to  denounce  him  as  a  traitor,  and  read  him  out  of  the 
party.  In  less  than  twelve  months  that  press,  as  well  as  the 
entire  party  in  the  South,  gave  his  course  an  explicit  endorsement. 

His  strong  antagonism  to  Mr.  Folk's  Administration  brought 
him  into  still  closer  connexion  with  the  Whigs.  In  the  Presi 
dent  himself,  as  a  public  officer,  he  had  but  little  confidence. 
From  the  conduct  of  the  latter  towards  Great  Britain  in  the 
matter  of  the  Oregon  boundary,  Mr.  Stephens  became  convinced 
that  he  would  not  shrink  even  from  involving  the  country  in 
war  on  insufficient  grounds  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  his 
popularity  and  prolonging  his  hold  of  office.  These jfews  were, 
in  his  opinion,  confirmed  by  the  action  of  the  Administration 
with  reference  to  Mexico. 

This  latter  country,  offended  at  the  proceedings  of  the  United 

States  in  regard  to  Texas,  whose  independence  she  had  never 

acknowledged,  withdrew  her  resident  minister,  General  Almonte, 

and   diplomatic  intercourse    between  the  two  countries  ceased. 

200 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.   STEPHENS.  201 

As  soon  as  Texas  had  accepted  the  proposition  sent  out  by  Presi 
dent  Tyler,  Mr.  Polk  sent  General  Taylor  with  about  five 
thousand  United  States  troops  to  Corpus  Christi,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Nueces  River,  the  actual  western  boundary  of  Texas,  by 
established  authority,  though  the  State  claimed  jurisdiction  as 
fur  as  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte.  On  the  13th  of  January,  1846, 
the  general  was  ordered  to  advance  from  Corpus  Christi  to  the 
Rio  Grande  on  the  disputed  territory,  which  he  did,  and  erected 
a  fort  within  cannon-shot  of  the  Mexican  city  of  Matamoros. 
This  was  regarded  as  an  act  of  hostility  by  the  Mexican  com 
mander,  and  the  war  was  begun.  Mr.  Stephens's  course  in  refer 
ence  to  this  matter  we  shall  presently  show ;  but  for  the  sake  of 
keeping  unbroken  the  chronological  order,  we  now  revert  to  the 
correspondence  with  Linton.  The  first  letter  that  we  have  for 
this  year  bears  date  January  9th,  and  is  addressed  to  him  at  La- 
grange,  where  he  has  been  on  a  visit  to  his  brother  John.  After 
duly  chronicling  the  weather,  he  shows  a  new  taste  for  an  old 
subject. 

"Whenever  I  get  time,  I  will  give  you  a  long  letter  upon  the  Ancients, 
as  I  have  been  closely  engaged  reading  up  on  that  subject  lately.  Rather, 
I  should  say,  I  have  been  for  some  time  closely  studying  Ancient  History, 
which  I  never  did  before.  And  though,  as  you  know,  I  have  always  had 
a  high  opinion  of  the  men  of  olden  time,  you  may  be  surprised  when  I  tell 
you  that  my  late  reading  has  greatly  increased  my  admiration." 

January  9th. — The  writer  is  so  full  of  his  subject  that,  although 
he  is  not  at  leisure  until  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  has  already 
sent  off  two  letters  to  Linton  to-day,  he  takes  his  pen  again  and 
discourses  through  sixteen  pages  of  long  paper  on  the  Ancients. 
These  Ancients  we  find  to  be,  not  the  Greeks  or  Romans,  but  the 
Chaldseans  and  the  Egyptians,  compared  with  whom  the  former 
may  be  called  modern.  He  comments  at  length  on  the  relics  of 
their  civilization,  their  temples,  pyramids,  tombs,  etc.,  and  thus 
concludes  : 

"You  may  depend  upon  it,  any  people  who  could  do  all  these  things: 
build  monuments  to  survive  the  ravages  of  ages,  firm  almost  as  the  ever 
lasting  mountains ;  who  excavated  for  themselves  a  final  resting-place  in 
the  solid  rock,  covered  with  paintings  relating  their  history,  which  time 


202  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

and  the  elements  can  never  obliterate  ;  who  had  even  the  art  of  embalm 
ing  their  dead,  and  almost  of  arresting  nature's  first  law  of  dissolution, 
giving  to  their  mortal  clay  a  kind  of  immortality, — have  no  equals  on  the 
earth  at  this  time." 

January  llth. — Still  in  his  Egyptian  researches,  but  purposes 
now,  after  renewed  reference  to  the  Ancients,  to  say  something 
about  the  Moderns. 

"  I  only  inclose  you  two  notes  of  invitation,  that  you  may  see  how  such 
things  are  done  nowadays  in  this  great  city,  and  leave  you  to  consider 
whether  the  builders  of  Thebes  and  Memphis,  or  the  wise  men  of  Babylon, 
with  all  their  learning,  ever  arrived  at  such  a  state  of  improvement,  refine 
ment,  and  civilization  as  to  do  such  small  matters  in  such  taste.  .  .  .  Toombs 
has  the  floor  for  to-morrow  on  the  Oregon  question.  He  will  make  his 
d6but  in  the  House  on  that  subject." 

A  splendid  debut  this  was,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

February  1st,  Sunday. — "  I  have  just  come  from  a  long  and  lonely  walk, 
thinking  and  musing  over  many  scenes  and  events  long  passed  and  far 
off.  These  solitary  walks  I  am  of  late  much  in  the  habit  of  indulging  in. 
They  afford  me  the  solitude  which  is  congenial  to  my  spirits.  The  present 
has  but  little  to  engage  my  thoughts  or  attention,  and 

'  Oft  up  the  stream  of  time  I  turn  my  soul 
To  view  the  fairy  haunts  of  long-lost  hours, 
Blest  with  far  greener  shades,  far  fresher  flowers.'" 

He  has  been  to  church  twice  to-day.  Much  pleased  with 
a  sermon  from  Dr.  S.,  and  not  at  all  with  one  from  Dr.  D., 
whom  he  thought  neither  orthodox  nor  eloquent.  "  His  prayer 
was  the  coolest  thing  of  the  kind  I  ever  heard.  Some  fellow 
said  that  he  prayed  as  if  in  his  address  to  the  Deity  he  did 
not  intend  to  compromise  his  self-respect." 

February  8th. — He  is  unwell  and  keeping  his  bed,  in  conse 
quence  of  a  fall.  The  Oregon  question  is  to  come  up  the  next 
day. 

"I  suppose  the  notice  will  pass,  though  the  correspondence  sent  in 
yesterday  between  this  Government  and  Great  Britain  may  cause  some  to 
vote  against  the  notice  who  were  before  inclined  to  vote  for  it.  It  seems 
from  that  correspondence  that  Mr.  Polk  does  not  intend  to  permit  England 
to  question  our  right  to  the  whole  country  up  to  54°  40'.  In  other  words, 
that  there  is  to  be  no  compromise  in  the  matter.  This  I  look  upon  as  a 
position  involving  the  direct  issue  of  war ;  and  if  Congress  shall  back  him 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  203 

up  in  that  particular,  war  is  inevitable.  I  think  that  correspondence  will 
do  more  to  humble  the  pride  of  our  country  and  tarnish  our  glory  than 
anything  that  has  occurred  since  the  organization  of  the  Government. 
For  we  shall  never  sustain  it.  England  has  rights  in  Oregon,  and  we 
shall  have  to  admit  them,  and  the  position  of  our  Chief  Magistrate  will 
have  to  be  abandoned.  This  will  lower  us  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  nations. 
Such  was  never  the  case  before." 

In  the  latter  part  of  February  he  left  for  home,  where  he 
remained  until  near  the  middle  of  April.  On  the  17th  of  that 
month  we  find  him  announcing  his  return  to  his  old  quarters  in 
Washington. 

May  10th. — u  The  news  of  a  fight  between  some  of  our  forces  in  the 
Southwest  and  the  Mexicans  reached  us  last  night.  It  seems  that  we  shall 
have  a  Mexican  war  yet.  I  suppose  we  shall  have  a  message  on  the  sub 
ject  to-morrow.  Mr.  Polk  has  been  very  silent  on  the  subject.  I  do  not 
know  myself  by  what  authority  General  Taylor  ever  crossed  the  Nueces 
River.  In  the  Resolution  admitting  Texas  it  was  expressly  provided  that 
questions  of  boundary  should  be  left  for  adjustment  between  this  country 
and  Mexico.  The  country  between  the  Nueces  and  Rio  Grande  del  Norte 
was  disputed  between  Mexico  and  Texas.  Texas  never  did  extend  her 
jurisdiction  over  it,  and  we  should  have  let  it  remain  unoccupied  until  the 
right  to  it  was  settled  by  negotiation." 

May  13th. — "  I  send  you  the  morning  papers  giving  an  account  of  yes 
terday's  proceedings  in  the  Senflte," — in  reference  to  Mexican  affairs. 
"Read  Calhoun's  remarks.  I  am  beginning  to  think  better  of  him;  and 
perhaps  my  admiration  increases  from  the  fact  that  he  acted  in  the  Senate 
upon  the  question  just  as  I  did  in  the  House, — that  is,  he  refused  to  vote 
upon  the  question  as  it  was  presented;  and  in  his  speech  also  he  said  just 
what  I  should  have  said,  in  substance,  if  I  could  have  had  a  chance.  The 
consequences  of  the  last  two  days'  work  here,  I  apprehend,  will  be  far 
more  important  than  the  country  is  aware  of.  The  dogs  of  war  are  now 
let  loose,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  a  general  war  with  England  and 
France  should  ensue.  The  gates  of  Janus  are  open,  and  I  fear  they  will 
be  as  the  gates  of  hell.  I  hope  for  the  best ;  but  I  must  confess  the  signs 
of  the  times  are  ominous.  The  whole  catalogue  of  evils  is  justly  charge 
able  upon  Mr.  Polk.  In  reference  to  the  situation  of  our  army  of  occu 
pation,  I  do  not  concur  with  the  prevailing  sentiment  here.  I  do  not  think 
that  Taylor  will  be  defeated.  In  rny  opinion  he  will  sustain  his  position  ; 
and  if  he  meets  the  enemy  in  a  general  engagement,  he  will  give  them 
a  thorough  flogging.  But  that  will  not  end  the  war.  Mexico  will  be 
invaded.'' 

This  letter  marks  the  beginning  of  his  taking  a  just  estimate 
of  Mr.  Calhoun.  It  will  be  soon  seen  how  he  had  been  misled 


204  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

in  his  judgment  of  that  great  man.     He  afterwards  came  to 
estimate  him  as  he  deserved. 

May  29th. — After  writing  at  some  length  about  law  business, 
and  inquiring  about  his  garden  and  other  domestic  matters,  he 
continues : 

"I  am  getting  tired  of  this  place,  and  I  am  beginning  to  think  that 
Congress  is  the  last  place  that  a  man  of  honor  and  honorable  ambition 
should  aspire  to.  There  is  a  recklessness  of  purpose  here  perfectly  disgust 
ing  and  almost  alarming.  What  will  become  of  our  country  and  institu 
tions  I  do  not  know.  The  signs  of  the  times  to  me  are  ominous  of  evil. 
I  have  ceased  to  take  much  interest  in  what  is  done  in  the  House.  All  is 
done  by  party  will  and  for  party  effect."  He  concludes  to  go  with  Toombs 
on  a  short  visit  to  New  York,  "  for  a  little  airing  and  to  get  rid  of  a  fit  of 
the  blues." 

June  llth. — "  The  Oregon  question,  I  think,  is  about  to  be  settled.  It 
is  said  that  Mr.  Pakenham  has  sent  in  to  Mr.  Polk  her  Majesty's  ultima 
tum,  which  is  a  settlement  of  boundary  on  the  basis  of  49°,  with  the 
whole  of  Vancouver's  Island,  to  England ;  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  the  free  navigation  of  the  Columbia  for 
ten  years.  It  is  also  said  that  Mr.  Polk  will  not  make  a  treaty  upon 
these  terms  without  first  taking  the  advice  of  the  Senate.  That  is  prudent, 
if  not  wise.  Pity  that  he  was  not  always  as  cautious  and  conscientious. 
If  he  had  been,  we  might  not  now  be  at  war  with  Mexico." 

The  advance  of  the  United  States  troops,  before  referred  to, 
upon  the  disputed  territory  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte,  without,  as  Mr.  Stephens  believed,  any  suffi 
cient  reason  to  justify  a  movement  which  could  not  fail  to 
involve  the  country  in  war,  confirmed  him  in  the  view  he 
had  taken  of  the  dispositions  of  the  Administration ;  and  on 
the  16th  of  June  he  gave  utterance  to  his  thoughts  in  his 
well-known  speech  on  the  Mexican  War.  In  this  speech  he 
boldly  affirmed  that  "  the  whole  affair,  is  properly  chargeable  to 
the  imprudence,  indiscretion,  and  mismanagement  of  our  own 
Executive ;  that  the  war  has  been  literally  provoked  when  there 
was  no  necessity  for  it,  and  it  could  have  been  easily  avoided 
without  any  detriment  to  our  rights,  interest,  or  honor  as  a 
nation.  Indeed,  sir,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  that  a  strange 
infatuation  seems  to  have  governed  this  Administration  ever 
since  it  came  into  power  in  reference  to  our  foreign  affairs :  a 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  205 

war  with  some  country  or  other  seems  to  have  been  its  leading 
object." 

He  then  proceeds  to  prove  his  propositions :  1.  That  the  war 
was  entirely  due  to  the  advance  of  the  troops ;  the  Mexicans,  up 
to  that  time,  having  showed  no  hostile  dispositions.  2.  That 
nothing  had  occurred  to  render  a  movement  of  that  kind — to 
which  but  one  interpretation  could  be  given — necessary ;  and 
that  not  being  necessitated  by  circumstances,  it  was  eminently 
unwise,  unless,  indeed,  the  sole  object  of  the  Administration  was 
to  provoke  hostilities.  These  propositions  established,  he  pro 
ceeds  to  inquire  what  was  the  object  of  the  war,  with  what 
views  it  was  to  be  prosecuted,  and  if  it  was  a  war  for  conquest. 

'*  If  so,"  he  continues,  "I  protest  against  that  part  of  it.  I  would  shed 
no  unnecessary  blood,  commit  no  unnecessary  violence,  allow  no  outrage 
upon  the  religion  of  Mexico,  have  no  desecration  of  temples  or  '  revelling 
in  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas,'  but  be  ready  to  meet  the  first  offers  of 
peace.  I  regret  that  General  Taylor  did  not  have  the  authority  to  accept 
the  proffered  armistice  when  it  was  tendered.  In  a  word,  I  am  for  a 
restoration  of  peace  as  soon— yes,  at  the  earliest  day  it  can  be  honorably 
effected.  I  am  no  enemy  to  the  extension  of  our  domain,  or  the  enlarge 
ment  of  the  boundaries  of  the  Republic.  Far  from  it.  I  trust  the  day  is 
coming,  and  not  far  distant,  when  the  whole  continent  will  be  ours ;  when 
our  institutions  shall  be  diffused  and  cherished,  and  republican  government 
felt  and  enjoyed  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  lan.\ — from  the 
far  south  to  the  extreme  north,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean.  That  this  is  our 
ultimate  destiny,  if  wise  counsels  prevail,  I  confidently  believe.  But  it  is 
not  to  be  accomplished  by  the  sword.  Mr.  Chairman,  republics  never 
spread  by  arms.  We  can  only  properly  enlarge  by  voluntary  accessions, 
and  should  only  attempt  to  act  upon  our  neighbors  by  setting  them  a  good 
example.  In  this  way  only  is  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  to  be  diffused 
as  the  leaven  until  '  the  whole  lump  is  leavened.'  This  has  been  the  his 
tory  of  our  silent  but  rapid  progress,  thus  far.  In  this  way  Louisiana  with 
its  immense  domain  was  acquired.  In  this  way  we  got  Oregon,  con 
necting  us  with  the  Pacific.  In  this  way  Texas,  up  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
might  have  been  added;  and  in  this  way  the  Californias,  and  Mexico 
herself,  in  due  time  may  be  merged  in  one  great  republic.  There  is  much 
said  in  this  country  of  the  party  of  progress.  I  profess  to  belong  to  that 
party,  but  am  far  from  advocating  that  kind  of  progress  which  many  of 
those  who  seem  anxious  to  appropriate  the  term  exclusively  to  themselves 
are  using  their  utmost  exertions  to  push  forward.  Theirs,  in  my  opinion, 
is  a  downward  progress.  It  is  a  progress  of  party,  of  excitement,  of  lust 
of  power ;  a  spirit  of  war,  aggression,  violence,  and  licentiousness.  It  is 


206  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

a  progress  which,  if  indulged  in,  would  soon  sweep  over  all  law,  all  order, 
and  the  Constitution  itself.  It  is  the  progress  of  the  French  Revolution, 
when  men's  passions, 

1  Like  an  ocean  bursting  from  its  bounds, 
Long  beat  in  vain,  went  forth  resistlessly, 
Bearing  the  stamp  and  designation  then 
Of  popular  fury,  anarchy.' 

"It  is  the  progress  of  that  political  and  moral  sirocco  that  passed  over 
the  republics  of  olden  time,  withering  and  blasting  everything  within  its 
pernicious  and  destructive  range.  Where  liberty  once  was  enjoyed,  where 
the  arts  and  sciences  were  cultivated  and  literature  flourished,  philosophers 
taught  and  poets  sang,  and  where  the  most  majestic  monuments  of  re 
finement,  taste,  and  genius  were  erected, — ;  towers,  temples,  palaces,  and 
sepulchres,'  but  where  now 

'  Ruin  itself  stands  still  for  lack  of  work, 
And  desolation  keeps  unbroken  sabbath.' 

Or,  to  come  nearer  home  for  an  illustration,  it  is  the  progress  of  Mexico 
herself.  Why  is  that  heaven-favored  country  now  so  weak  and  impotent 
and  faithless  ?  Why  so  divided  and  distracted  and  torn  to  pieces  in  her 
internal  policy?  A  few  years  ago  she  set  out  in  the  career  of  repub 
licanism  under  auspices  quite  as  favorable  to  success  as  this  country. 
Her  progress  has  been  most  rapid  from  a  wrell-regulated  good  government, 
formed  on  our  own  model,  to  the  most  odious  military  despotism.  We 
should  do  well  to  take  a  lesson  from  her  history,  and  grow  wise  by  the 
calamities  of  others,  without  paying  ourselves  the  melancholy  price  of 
wisdom.  They  lacked  that  high  order  of  moral  and  political  integrity 
without  Which  no  republic  can  standj  And  it  is  to  progress  in  these 
essential  attributes  of  national  greatness  I  would  look  :  the  improvement 
of  mind,  'the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men,'  the  erec 
tion  of  schools,  colleges,  and  temples  of  learning  ;  the  progress  of  intellect 
over  matter ;  the  triumph  of  the  mind  over  the  animal  propensities ;  the 
advancement  of  kind  feeling  and  good  will  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  ;  the  cultivation  of  virtue  and  the  pursuits  of  industry  ;  the  bringing 
into  subjection  and  subservience  to  the  use  of  man  of  all  the  elements  of 
nature  around  us  ;  in  a  word,  the  progress  of  civilization  and  everything 
that  elevates,  ennobles,  and  dignifies  man.  This,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  not  to 
be  done  by  wars,  whether  foreign  or  domestic.  Fields  of  blood  and  car 
nage  may  make  men  brave  and  heroic,  but  seldom  tend  to  make  nations 
either  good,  virtuous,  or  great." 

The  brilliant  exploits  of  the  United  States  forces,  and  the 
signal  triumph  with  which  they  were  crowned  at  last,  dazzled 
the  people,  as  had  been  expected,  and  withdrew  attention  from 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  207 

the  real  justice  of  the  cause.  The  splendid  gains  of  territory 
acquired  by  the  cession  of  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California, 
under  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  gave  immense  influence 
and  popularity  to  Mr.  Folk's  Administration.  Even  before  the 
victorious  close  this  influence  was  strong,  and  this  Congress  had 
a  clear  Democratic  majority  of  seventy  members;  while  the 
Whigs,  who  had  already  lost  ground  during  the  Administration 
of  Tyler,  could  not  afford  to  risk  their  popularity  further  by 
showing  opposition  to  a  war  which  so  liberally  fed  the  public 
pride. 

June  2 '1st. — In  this  letter  is  a  detailed  account  of  a  misunder 
standing  between  Mr.  Stephens  and  Mr.  W.  L.  Yancey,  growing 
out  of  remarks  made  by  both  in  the  discussion  of  the  Mexican 
War,  which  nearly  resulted  in  a  duel.  The  affair,  however,  was 
amicably  adjusted  through  the  mediation  of  Mr.  Toombs  and 
Mr.  Burt.  He  freely  and  naturally  expresses  his  gratification  at 
the  impression  his  speech  had  made  upon  the  House. 

"But,"  he  says,  "my  own  opinion  is  that  it  is  not  half  such  a  speech 
as  my  Texas  speech.  It  was  not  a  subject  that  admitted  of  so  much  men 
tal  power,  if  you  will  excuse  the  idea,  and  is  not  so  finished  a  production. 
It  is  not,  indeed,  as  printed,  half  such  a  speech  as  was  delivered.  I  lost 
the  fire  when  I  came  to  write  it  out,  and  as  for  the  reporter's  notes,  they 
were  worth  little  to  me,  except  the  order.  He  had  not  preserved  my  lan 
guage,  nor  the  structure  of  sentences.  I  had  not  spoken  to  any  one  to 
report  me,  and  just  had  the  hasty  sketch  of  Stansbury,  who  reports  fre 
quently  from  memory." 

July  20th. — The  speech  on  the  Mexican  War  excited  much  ap 
prehension  and  anxiety  in  the  Whig  party,  who  were  afraid  of 
the  usual  result  of  opposition  to  a  successful  war.  In  the  letter 
of  this  date  he  says,  "  I  am  daily  in  receipt  of  letters  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  not  a  few  from  Georgia."  He  then 
incloses  the  following  from  Judge  McLean  : 

"  CINCINNATI,  15th  July,  1846. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  thank  you  for  your  excellent  speech  on  the  Mexican 
War.  You  have  exhibited  in  the  clearest  light  the  rights  of  the  country 
and  the  duty  of  the  Executive  under  the  Texas  Annexation  Resolutions. 
The  war  is  the  war  of  the  Administration  for  party  purposes,  and  not  for 
the  honor  or  interests  of  the  country.  A  very  small  sum  in  comparison 
with  what  we  have  already  expended  would  have  extended  our  boundary 


208  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

to  the  Rio  Grande  peaceably  and  honorably.  But,  as  you  justly  observe, 
the  Administration  seemed  determined  to  have  war  either  with  England 
or  Mexico,  and  I  fear  that  the  Administration  is  determined  to  go  beyond 
the  Rio  Grande  for  a  boundary.  Will  Congress  encourage  and  sanction 
the  spirit  of  conquest  ?  You  may  be  assured  that  the  charm  of  this  Ad 
ministration  is  broken ;  and  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  Mr.  Polk  will 
leave  the  White  House  with  as  little  glory  as  his  predecessor. 

"  Sincerely  your  friend, 

"JOHN  MCLEAN." 

Congress  adjourned  early  in  August,  and  Mr.  Stephens  re 
turned  to  Crawford ville.  His  reputation  was  much  heightened 
by  his  action  during  the  session.  The  bold  position  which,  un 
advised,  and  at  first  almost  alone,  he  assumed  upon  the  Mexican 
War  made  him  the  leader'of  the  Opposition  in  the  House;  and 
his  Resolutions,  introduced  in  the  following  January,  indicated 
the  line  of  attack  upon  the  Administration  party,  which  finally 
led  to  its  overthrow. 

Early  in  December  Mr.  Stephens  returned  to  Washington, 
and  the  correspondence  was  kept  up  as  usual,  but  the  letters 
chiefly  refer  to  matters  of  business.  In  that  of  the  26th  is  a 
repetition  of  directions  frequently  given  in  previous  letters : 
"  Don't  forget  or  fail  to  let  the  young  men  Bristow  and  Jones 
have  the  money ;  and  if  you  cannot  raise  it  elsewhere,  I  can  send 
you  some  from  here.^v  These  were  two  young  men  whose  ex 
penses  he  was  paying  at  school  and  college ;  for  he  had  already 
begun  that  practice  of  aiding  in  the  education  of  worthy  young 
men  without  means,  in  which  he  was,  perhaps,  unequalled  in 
beneficence,  if  we  consider  his  own  limited  means  and  the  other 
claims  upon  him. 

During  this  year,  1846,  occurred  the  estrangement  between 
Mr.  'Stephens  and  the  Hon.  Herschel  Y.  Johnson,  which  was 
especially  to  be  regretted  on  account  of  their  long  and  intimate 
previous  friendship.  While  at  college  they  were  warmly  at 
tached  to  each  other,  and  remained  so  for  many  years.  A  cool 
ness  sprang  up  between  them  in  1844,  in  which  year  Mr.  Johnson 
was  an  Elector  for  Mr.  Polk ;  and  he  and  Mr.  Stephens  met  sev 
eral  times  in  public  discussion,  and  in  the  heat  of  debate  some 
acrimony  arose.  In  1846  several  articles  appeared  in  the  Fed 
eral  Union,  in  which  Mr.  Stephens's  speech  on  the  Mexican 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  209 

War  was  severely  criticised.  Not  knowing  the  author,  Mr. 
Stephens  applied  to  the  publishers,  and  on  learning  that  it  was 
Mr.  Johnson,  demanded  a  retraction  from  that  gentleman,  and 
afterwards  challenged  him.  Mr.  Johnson  refused  to  accept  the 
challenge,  and  the  affair  went  no  further.  But  they  ceased  to 
speak  to  each  other  until  the  winter  of  1855,  at  which  time 
Mr.  Johnson  was  Governor  of  the  State,  when  an  understanding 
and  reconciliation  was  brought  about  by  the  mediation  of  com 
mon  friends.  Since  that  time  they  have  lived  upon  terms  of 
renewed  friendship.  In  a  letter  written  in  1869,  Mr.  Stephens 
speaks  of  Mr.  Johnson  as  "  one  of  our  ablest  and  truest  men." 


14 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Position  of  the  Whigs — Kesolutions  on  the  Mexican  "War — Their  Effect — 
Danger  ahead — The  Wilmot  Proviso — The  "  Missouri  Compromise" 
repudiated — Speech  on  the  Mexican  Appropriation  Bill — A  Queer  Genius 
— Speech  of  Mr.  Toombs — Election  of  a  Speaker — Cure  for  Melancholy. 

THIS  period,  as  before  shown,  marks  an  epoch  in  the  political 
life  of  Mr.  Stephens.  We  have  seen  how,  by  reason  of  his 
agreement  with  them  on  many  general  principles  and  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  course  of  the  Administration,  Mr.  Stephens  had 
come  to  be  identified  in  the  minds  of  many  with  the  Whig 
party.  But  he  reserved  his  independence  of  thought  and  action, 
and  the  freedom  of  choosing  his  own  course  whenever  that  of 
the  party  should  appear  to  him  unjust  or  unwise. 

The  position  of  the  Whigs  at  this  time  is  well  explained  by 
a  letter  of  Mr.  Stephens  written  in  1869,  from  which  we  make 
an  extract : 

"  The  Mexican  War  was  in  full  blast,  and  seemed  as  if  it  would  carry 
everything  before  it.  The  Whigs,  as  a  party,  while  opposed  to  the  policy 
of  the  war,  were  afraid  to  do  or  say  anything  that  would  bring  upon  them 
what  they  thought  to  be  the  odium  of  an  anti-war  party.  The  fate  of  those 
who  had  opposed  the  war  of  1812  stood  as  a  ghost  in  their  path.  Now 
this  was  the  state  of  things  in  1847,  when  I  introduced  my  Resolutions 
upon  the  subject  of  the  war.  I  consulted  with  all  the  leading  Whigs  in 
the  House,  Northern  and  Southern,  upon  introducing  them.  Every  one 
of  them  dissuaded  me  from  it.  But  I  resolved  upon  doing  it  anyhow.  I 
knew  I  was  right." 

These  Kesolutions  were  so  adroitly  yet  so  fairly  drawn  that 
it  was  embarrassing  to  attempt  to  dodge  them.  They  ran  as 
follows : 

"  Whereas,  It  is  no  less  desirable  that  the  interests  and  honor  of  our 

country  should  be  cordially  sustained  and  defended  so  long  as  the  present 

war  with  Mexico  continues  to  exist,  than  that  the  conflict  should  not  be 

unnecessarily  prolonged,  but  should  be  terminated  as  soon  as  an  honorable 

210 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  211 

peace  can  be  obtained  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  believed  that  a  diversity  of 
opinion  prevails  to  a  considerable  extent  as  to  the  ultimate  aims  and 
objects  for  which  the  war  should  be  prosecuted,  and  it  being  proper  that 
this  mattej|^^|Pbe  settled  by  the  clear  expression  of  the  legislative  will 
solemnly  ^PHmined  to  the  world  : 

u  Be  it  therefore  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  present  war 
with  Mexico  '  is  not  waged  with  a  view  to  conquest,'  or  the  dismemberment 
of  that  republic  by  the  acquisition  of  any  portion  of  her  territory. 

u  Be  it  farther  Resolved  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  it  is  the  desire 
of  the  United  States  that  hostilities  should  be  terminated  upon  terms 
honorable  to  both  parties  ;  embracing  a  liberal  settlement  on  our  part  of 
the  questions  growing  out  of  the  proper  and  rightful  boundary  of  Texas, 
and  a  full  recognition  and  proper  provision  on  her  part  to  be  made  for  all 
the  just  claims  of  our  citizens  against  that  country ;  the  whole  to  be 
adjusted  by  negotiation,  to  be  instituted  and  effected  according  to  the 
constitutional  forms  of  each  Government  respectively." 

The  Democrats  were  so  taken  by  surprise  that  many  of  them 
voted  to  suspend  the  rules  and  refer  the  Resolutions  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole.  Mr.  Stephens  continues  in  the  letter 
above  referred  to : 

"After  the  Whigs  saw  the  effect  of  the  Resolutions  on  the  Democratic 
side,  several  who  had  dodged  the  vote  at  first  came  up  and  recorded  their 
names  for  it.  So  that  the  motion  received  every  Whig  vote  in  the  House, 
and  some  Democratic.  They  saw  that  the  Resolutions  were  stronger 
than  their  party.  From  this  time  out  the  Resolutions  became  the  Whig 
platform  on  the  war,  North  and  South.  Although  several  Democrats- 
voted  to  suspend  the  rules,  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  76  to  88. 
And  thus  Congress  refused  to  say  that  the  war  was  'not  waged  with  a 
view  to  conquest,'  or  the  dismemberment  of  Mexico  by  the  acquisition  of 
any  of  her  territory,  or  that  it  was  *  the  desire  of  the  United  States  that 
hostilities  should  be  terminated  upon  terms  honorable  to  both  parties.' 
This  refusal  to  avow  what  were  the  objects  of  the  war  and  to  express  the 
desire  for  an  honorable  peace,  gave  a  blow  to  the  Administration,  from  the 
effects  of  which  it  could  never  recover.  Relying  too  far  upon  the  majority 
and  the  continued  successes  of  the  army,  Mr.  Polk  assumed  an  attitude 
which  was  defiant  and  almost  menacing  to  the  minority.  Besides,  the  Whigs 
became  more  and  more  satisfied  that  the  war  was  being  conducted  alto 
gether  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  and  the  power  which  such  acquisition 
would  secure.  Already  had  Commodore  Stockton  announced  to  the  people 
of  California,  and  General  Kearny  to  those  of  New  Mexico,  that  their 
States  were  territories  of  the  United  States ;  and  as  late  as  June  of  the 
preceding  year  Colonel  J.  B.  Stevenson,  of  New  York,  had  been  authorized 


212  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

to  raise  a  regiment,  with  the  understanding  that  at  the  end  of  the  war 
they  should  remain  '  in  Oregon,  or  in  any  other  territory  in  that  region 
of  the  globe  which  may  then  be  a  part  of  the  United  States.'  " 

In  this  prospective  extension  of  territory,  Mr.  Stephens  saw  not 
only  gross  injustice  toward  a  weak  State,  but  a  source  of  serious 
danger  to  the  country.  Already  the  anti-slavery  party  were  de 
claring  that,  compromises  or  no  compromises,  slavery  should  not 
be  introduced  into  any  newly-acquired  territory.  Already — on 
August  8th,  1846 — on  the  President's  asking  an  appropriation 
of  three  million  dollars  to  enable  him  to  negotiate  a  treaty 
with  Mexico,  based  upon  a  cession  of  territory,  Mr.  Wilmot,  of 
Pennsylvania,  had  introduced  his  notorious  Proviso,  excluding 
slavery  from  any  such  territory  to  be  hereafter  acquired,  in 
direct  and  flagrant  violation  of  the  "Missouri  Compromise"; 
and  the  Proviso  passed  the  House  and  only  failed  in  the  Senate. 
Here  was  a  plain  indication  how  things  would  turn,  and  the 
way  in  which  faith  was  to  be  kept.  Again,  in  the  following 
year,  on  the  question  of  organizing  a  territorial  government  for 
Oregon,  the  Proviso  was  once  more  introduced,  and  its  advo 
cates  openly  repudiated  any  intention  to  be  bound  by  the  line 
of  36°  30r,  thus  opening  again  the  whole  agitating  question 
which  had  been  considered  finally  settled  by  those  who  vainly 
imagined  that  solemn  pledges  would  be  regarded  when  the 
party  that  gave  them  saw  their  interest  in  breaking  them. 

It  was  on  the  question  of  this  Mexican  Appropriation  Bill 
that  Mr.  Stephens  made  his  speech  of  February  12th,  1847, 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  he  ever  delivered,  fearless  in  its 
attacks  upon  the  Administration  and  the  dominant  party,  and 
as  fearless  in  its  warnings  to  the  people  of  the  country.  In  it 
he  said  : 

"  The  country,  which  one  year  ago  was  quiet  and  prosperous,  at  peace 
with  the  world,  and  smiling  under  the  profusion  of  heaven's  bountiful 
munificence,  by  the  sole  and  unauthorized  act  of  the  President,  has  been 
plunged  into  an  unnecessary  and  expensive  war,  the  end  and  fearful  con 
sequences  of  which  no  man  can  foresee.  And  to  suppress  inquiry  and 
silence  all  opposition  to  conduct  so  monstrous,  an  Executive  ukase  has  been 
sent  forth,  strongly  intimating,  if  not  clearly  threatening,  the  charge  of 
treason  against  all  who  may  dare  to  call  in  question  the  wisdom  or  pro 
priety  of  his  measures.  Not  only  was  Congress,  which  possesses  exclu- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS.  213 

sively  the  war-making  power,  never  consulted  upon  the  subject  until  after 
hostilities  were  commenced,  but  the  right  is  even  now  denied  that  body  to 
make  any  legislative  expression  of  the  national  will  as  to  the  aims  and 
objects  for  which  the  war  should  be  prosecuted.  The  new  and  strange 
doctrine  is  now  put  forth  that  Congress  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  conduct 
of  war ;  that  the  President  is  entitled  to  its  uncontrolled  management ; 
that  we  can  do  nothing  but  vote  men  and  money,  to  whatever  amount  and 
extent  his  folly  and  caprice  may  dictate.  Neighboring  States  may  be 
subjugated,  extensive  territories  annexed,  provincial  governments  erected, 
the  rights  of  conscience  violated,  and  the  oath  of  allegiance,  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  may  be  administered  to  a  mixed  population,  embracing  all 
varieties  of  races,  languages,  and  color,  and  the  Representatives  of  the 
people  are  to  say  nothing  against  these  extraordinary  outrages  against  the 
first  principles  of  their  Government,  or  else  render  themselves  obnoxious  to 
the  imputation  of  giving  '  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy.'  This  is  nothing 
less  than  the  assumption  of  the  principle  that  patriotism  consists  in  pliant 
subserviency  to  Executive  will, — that  the  President  is  supreme,  and  '  the 
king  can  do  no  wrong.' 

"  Sir,  this  doctrine  might  suit  the  despotisms  of  Europe,  where  the  sub 
jects  of  a  crown  know  no  duty  but  to  obey,  and  have  no  rights  but  to 
submit  to  royal  dictation.  But  it  is  to  be  seen  whether  the  free  people  of 
this  country  have  so  soon  forgotten  the  principles  of  their  ancestors  as  to 
be  so  easily  awed  by  the  arrogance  of  power.  It  is  to  be  seen  whether 
they  have  so  far  lost  the  spirit  of  their  sires  as  tamely,  quietly,  and  silently 
to  permit  themselves  to  be  treated  as  the  humble  vassals  of  such  a  self- 
constituted  lordling. 

"Insolence,  when  indulged,  not  unfrequently  overdoes  itself  by  its  own 
extravagance.  Like  Ambition,  it  often  overleaps  its  aims.  And  my  confi 
dence  in  the  character,  integrity,  and  patriotism  of  the  American  people 
warrants  me  in  venturing  the  assertion  that  this  will  be  the  fate  of  this 
most  unscrupulous  attempt  to  abridge  the  free  exercise  of  those  rights  which 
are  '  dear  to  freemen,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only.'  For  a  very  little 
further  interference  with  the  freedom  of  discussion  Charles  X.,  of  France, 
lost  his  crown  ;  and  for  a  very  little  greater  stretch  of  royal  prerogative 
Charles  I.,  of  England,  lost  his  head.  By  reflecting  upon  these  examples 
of  the  past,  our  Executive,  without  entertaining  any  apprehension  of  ex 
periencing  a  fate  exactly  similar  to  either,  may  yet  learn  some  profitable 
lessons, — lessons  that  will  teach  him  that  there  are  some  things  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  the  loss  of  a  throne,  or  even  the  loss  of  a  head, — among 
which  may  be  named  the  anathema  of  a  nation's  curse,  and  the  infamy 
thajuisually  follows  it. 

•^Moralists  tell  us  that  nations  as  well  as  individuals  are  sometimes 
punislied  for  their  follies  and  crimesTj  It  may  be  that  there  is  in  store  for 
us  some  terrible  retribution  for  thefraud,  deception,  and  gross  iniquity 
practised  upon  the  people  of  this  country  in  the  election  of  this  man  to 


214  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

office.  But  if,  in  the  inscrutable  ways  of  Providence,  he  who  has  been 
thus  fraudulently  elevated  to  power  should  be  the  ill-fated  instrument  of 
our  chastisement,  the  punishment  may  be  just,  but  he  will  take  no  honor 
in  its  execution.  (jfL^h-e  result  of  his  mischievous  councils  should,  in  any 
way,  prove  disastrous  to  our  institutions, — the  stability,  harmony,  and 
permanence  of  the  Government, — which  there  is  now  abundant  cause 
seriously  to  apprehend,  (he  will  certainly  have  no  place  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  mankind.  Fame  he  will  have;  but  it  will  be  of  the 
character  of  that  which  perpetuates  the  name  of  Erostratus.  And  the 
more  deeply  blackened  than  even  his,  as  the  stately  structure  of  this  temple 
of  our  liberties  is  grander  and  more  majestic  than  the  far-famed  magnifi 
cence  of  the  Ephesian  dome. 

"The  crisis,  sir,  requires  not  only  firmness  of  principle,  but  boldness  of 
speech.  As  the  immortal  Tully  said,  in  the  days  of  Catiline,  when  Rome 
was  threatened  with  the  most  imminent  danger,  the  time  has  come  when 
the  opinions  of  men  should  not  be  uttered  by  their  voices  only,  but 
4  inscription  sit  in  f route  uniuscujusque  quid  de  Repullica  sentiatj — it  should 
even  be  written  on  the  forehead  of  each  one  what  he  thinks  of  the  Republic. 
There  should  be  no  concealment.  In  what  I  have  to  say,  therefore,  I  shall 
use  that  character  of  speech  which  I  think  befitting  the  time  and  occasion. 

"  The  absorbing  topic,  both  in  this  House  and  the  country,  is  the  war 
with  Mexico.  This  is  the  subject  which,  above  all  others,  demands  our 
consideration.  To  this  the  bill  upon  your  table  relates.-  And  upon  it  I 
propose  to  submit  some  views  as  briefly  as  possible.  I  do  not,  at  this  time, 
intend  to  discuss  the  causes  of  the  war,  or  to  recount  the  blunders  and 
folly  of  the  President,  connected  with  its  origin.  This  I  have  done  upon 
a  former  occasion  ;  and  all  the  facts,  I  believe,  are  now  well  understood  by 
the  country.  The  President  may  repeat  as  often  as  he  pleases  that  it  was 
*  unavoidably  forced  upon  us.'  But  such  repetition  can  never  change  the 
fact.  It  is  a  war  of  his  own  making,  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  country.  And  so  history.  I  dou^)t  not,  will  make  up  the  record,  if 
truth  be  fairly  and  faithfully  registered  in  her  chronicles. 

"  But.  sir,  the  war  exists,  and  hoAvever  improperly,  unwisely,  or  wickedly 
it  was  begun,  it  must  be  brought  to  a  termination, — a  speedy  and  successful 
termination.  By  the  unskilfulness  or  faithlessness  of  our  pilot,  we  have 
been  run  upon  the  breakers ;  and  the  only  practical  inquiry  now  is,  how 
we  can  be  extricated  in  the  shortest  time  and  with  the  greatest  safety. 
This  is  the  grave  question  which  now  engages  public  attention,  and  which, 
as  patriots  and  statesmen,  we  ought  to  decide.  And,  in  my  opinion,  this 
great  question,  relating  as  it  does  to  the  interest,  the  honor,  and  permanent 
welfare  of  the  country,  necessarily  involves  another  of  no  small  import 
and  importance,  and  that  is,  for  what  objects  should  the  war  be  waged? 
Before  the  ways  and  means  can  be  devised  for  bringing  it  to  an  honorable 
conclusion,  there  must  be  some  agreement  as  to  the  ultimate  ends  and 
purposes  for  which  it  should  be  prosecuted.  This  should  be  first  settled. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  215 

No  system  should  be  adopted  until  there  is  a  distinct  understanding  upon 
this  great  and  essential  point.  All  wars,  to  be  just,  must  have  some  dis 
tinct  and  legitimate  objects  to  be  accomplished, — some  rights  to  be  de 
fended  and  secured,  or  some  wrong  to  be  redressed.  And  ome  of  the 
strangest  and  most  singular  circumstances  attending  this  war  is,  that 
though  it  has  lasted  upwards  of  eight  months,  at  a  cost  of  many  mil 
lions  of  dpllars,  and  the  sacrifice  of  many  valuable  lives,  both  in  battle 
and  by  the  diseases  of  the  camp,  no  man  can  tell  us  for  what  object  it  is 
prosecuted.  And  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  any  man,  save  the  President 
and  his  Cabinet,  knows  the  real  and  secret  designs  that  provoked  its  ex 
istence.  Upon  the.se  points  up  to  this  time,  as  was  remarked  the  other  day 
by  a  distinguished  Senator  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol  [Mr.  Calhoun], 
we  are  left  'only  to  inference.'  This,  sir,  is  a  strange  spectacle,  but  it  is 
nevertheless  true.  And  I  submit  it  to  this  House  and  this  country 
whether  it  shall  be  permitted  longer  to  exist.  When  this  people  are  called 
on  to  spend  their  treasure  and  blood,  should  they  not  know  the  reason  of 
the  call,  and  the  ends  proposed  to  be  attained?" 

The  orator  then  proceeds  to  show  the  futility  of  the  alleged 
ground  of  the  war :  old  aggressions  of  Mexicans  upon  Amer 
ican  commerce,  afterwards  settled  by  treaty,  and  the  failure  of 
Mexico,  through  inability,  to  pay  the  instalments  due  the  United 
States  under  the  treaty  of  1843.  He  then  presses  home  the  ne 
cessity  of  an  explicit  showing  by  Congress  of  a  sufficient  ground 
for  hostilities;  a  clear  declaration  of  the  objects  aimed  at,  and  a 
disavowal  of  the  intention  of  permanent  conquests.  The  speech 

thus  concludes : 

M 

"  And  besides  the  reasons  already  offered,  which  of  themselves  would  ever 
control  me,  there  are  others  of  great  importance,  growing  out  of  the  nature 
of  the  union  of  these  States,  which  .should  be  gravely  considered  before 
bringing  in  this  new  element  of  strife.  Who  can  sit  here  and  listen  to  the 
debates  daily  upon  this  question  and  look  unmoved  upon  the  prospect  be 
fore  us  ?  This  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  the  resolutions  from  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States  of  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  all  of  the  same  char 
acter  and  import,  speak  a  language  that  cannot  be  mistaken, — a  language 
of  warning  upon  this  subject,  which  the  country,  if  wise,  would  do  well 
jto  heed  in  time.  \  They  show  a  fixed  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
North,  which  is  now  in  the  majority  in  this  House,  and  ever  will  be  here 
after,  that,  if  territory  is  acquired,  the  institutions  of  the  South  shall  be 
forever  excluded  from  its  linm^;  this  is  to  be  the  condition  attached  to  the 
bill  upon  your  table !  What  is  to  be  the  result  of  this  matter?  Will  the 
South  submit  to  this  restriction?  Will  the  North  ultimately  yield  ?  Or 
shall  these  two  great  sections  of  the  Union  be  arrayed  against  each  other? 


216  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

When  the  elements  of  discord  are  fully  aroused,  who  shall  direct  the  storm? 
Who  does  not  know  how  this  country  was  shaken  to  its  very  centre  by 
the  Missouri  agitation?  Should  another  such  scene  occur,  who  shall  be 
mighty  enough  to  prevent  the  most  disastrous  consequences  ?  The  master 
spirit  of  that  day  is  no  longer  in  your  councils.  Shall  another  equally 
great  and  patriotic  ever  be  found  ?  Let  not  gentlemen  quiet  their  appre 
hensions  by  staving  off  this  question.  It  has  to  be  met,  and  better  now 
than  at  a  future  day.  It  had  better  be  decided  now,  than  after  more  blood 
and  treasure  have  been  spent  in  the  pursuit  of  that  which  may  ultimately 
be  our  ruin.  Upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  about  which  so  much  has  been 
said  in  this  debate,  I  shall  say  but  little.  I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to 
enter  into  a  defence  of  the  character  of  the  people  of  iny  section  of  the 
Union  against  the  arguments  of  those  who  have  been  pleased  to  denounce 
that  institution  as  wicked  and  sinful.v'K  is  sufficient  for  me  and  for 
them  that  the  morality  of  that  institution  stands  upon  a  basis  as  firm 
as  the  Bible ;  and  by  that  code  of  morals  we  are  content  to  abide  until  a 
better  be  furnished^  Until  Christianity  be  overthrown,  and  some  other 
system  of  ethics  "be  substituted,  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  can  never 
be  regarded  as  an  offence  against  the  Divine  laws.  The  character  of  our 
people  speaks  for  itself.  And  a  more  generous,  more  liberal,  more  char 
itable,  more  benevolent,  more  philanthropic,  and  a  more  magnanimous 
people,  I  venture  to  say,  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  this  or  any 
other  country.  As  to  their  piety,  it  is  true  they  have  '  none  to  boast  of."1 
But  they  are  free  from  that  pharisaical  sin  of  self-righteousness  which  is 
so  often  displayed  elsewhere,  of  forever  thanking  the  Lord  that  they  are 
not  as  bad  as  other  men  are. 

"As  a  political  institution,  I  shall  never  argue  the  question  of  slavery 
here.  I  plead  to  the  jurisdiction.  MFke  subject  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
StatesT>  There  the  Constitution  wisely  left  it;  and  there  Congress,  if  it 
acts  wisely,  will  let  it  remain.  Whether  the  South  will  submit  to  the 
threatened  proscription,  it  is  not  iny  province  to  say.  The  language  of 
defiance  should  always  be  the  last  alternative.  But  as  I  value  this  Union, 
and  all  the  blessings  which  its  security  and  permanency  promise,  not  only 
to  the  present,  but  coming  generations,  I  invoke  gentlemen  not  to  put  this 
principle  to  the  test.  I  have  great  confidence  in  the  strength  of  the  Union, 
so  long  as  sectional  feelings  and  prejudices  are  kept  quiet  and  undisturbed. 
— so  long  as  good  neighborhood  and  harmony  are  preserved  among  the 
States.  But  I  have  no  disposition  to  test  its  strength  by  running  against 
that  rock  upon  which  Mr.  Jefferson  predicted  we  should  be  finally  wrecked. 
And  the  signs  of  the  times,  unless  I  greatly  mistake  them,  are  not  of  a 
character  to  be  unheeded.  With  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patriotism  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  and  integrity,  prudence,  wisdom,  and  a  due  regard 
to  all  the  great  interests  of  the  country  on  the  part  of  our  rulers,  a  bright 
and  a  glorious  destiny  awaits  us.  But  if  bad  counsels  prevail, — if  all  the 
solemn  admonitions  of  the  present  and  the  past  are  disregarded, — if  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  217 

policy  of  the  Administration  is  to  be  carried  out,— rif  Mexico,  the  '  forbidden 
fruit,'  is  to  be  seized  at  every  hazard,  I  very  much  fear  that  those  who 
control  public  affairs,  in  their  eager  pursuit  after  the  unenviable  distinc 
tion  of  despoiling  a  neighboring  Republic,  will  have  the  still  l"ess  enviable 
glory  of  looking  back  upon  the  shattered  and  broken  fragments  of  their 
own  Confederacy." 

Wise  words  of  warning,  but  all  unavailing  to  stay  the  tide 
which  was  now  setting  steadily  and  irresistibly  in  the  direction 
which  he  foresaw,  and  toward  the  catastrophe  which  he  pre 
dicted. 

We  now  revert  to  the  correspondence  with  Linton. 

"January  1st,  1847. — Yesterday  I  wrote  you  a  valedictory  for  1846,  and 
to-day  it  seems  right  enough  that  I  should  present  you  a  salutatory  for 
1847.  For  several  years,  I  believe,  the  first  time  I  have  written  the  new 
date  was  in  a  letter  to  you.  .  .  .  Yesterday  was  chill,  damp,  foggy,  and 
gloomy  in  the  extreme :  to-day  it  is  clear,  bright,  and  mild  as  a  May  day. 
But  I  have  to  be  contented  with  a  look  from  the  window  and  the  reflection 
of  the  sun  which  I  cannot  see.  I  am  still  confined  to  my  room,  though  I 
believe  I  feel  better  than  I  have  done  for  several  days." 

January  3d. — This  is  Sunday,  and  the  sounds  of  the  various 
church-bells  lead  him  to  speak  of  the  day  of  prayer,  and  of  the 
effects  of  sincere  devotion.  He  then  branches  off  to  tell  of  a 
curious  personage  from  Georgia  who  has  given  him  much  trouble 
by  seeking  his  help  in  his  efforts  to  procure  patents  for  what  he 
calls  a  "  bee-rack,"  and  some  contrivance  for  sharpening  gin- 
saws.  Willing  as  Mr.  Stephens  always  was  to  give  his  help  to 
all  who  asked  it,  nothing  could  be  effected  in  this  case.  The 
letter  of  the  applicant  is  so  absurd  that  he  incloses  it  to  Linton 
for  his  amusement.  The  main  burden  of  this  epistle  is  a  com 
plaint  of  the  treatment  the  writer  has  received  at  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Edmund  Burke,  Commissioner  of  Patents  (whom  he  seems 
to  confound  with  the  eloquent  accuser  of  Warren  Hastings), 
mingled  with  denunciations  of  Mr.  Folk's  Administration  gen 
erally.  At  times  his  indignation  lifts  him  into  song,  of  which 
we  subjoin  a  specimen  : 

"If  a  display  of  eloquence  and  base  nattering  is  the  channel  through 

which  Justice  can  flow, 
I  cannot  expect  the  Honorable  Edmund  Burke  any  of  his  favors  on  me 

to  bestow. 


218  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

May  cursed  be  its  influence,  until  all  can  be  with  the  capacities  of  Demos 
thenes  and  Cicero  born, 
And  all  the  weak  voices  does,  as  it  were,  to  Thunder  turn !" 

On  January  4th,  having  despatched  one  letter,  he  must  needs 
write  a  second  to  repair  an  omission.  "  I  have  been  thinking 
to-day,  as  I  often  have  before,  of  '  Robin  Short/  What  has 
become  of  the  poor  old  horse?  and  why  do  you  make  no  men 
tion  of  him  ?" 

January  5tli. — After  remarks  upon  some  matters  of  law,  this 
letter  concludes : 

"  To  give  you  political  news  would  be  impossible.  I  can  only  tell  you 
what  we  do ;  but  to  say  anything  about  what  is  ahead,  or  what  is  coming, 
would  be  out  of  my  power.  The  truth  is,  nobody  here,  I  believe,  knows. 
The  wholQ  Government,  I  think,  is  about  to  break  down, — at  least,  the 
Administration.  There  is  no  concert  in  any  party,  and  nobody  knows 
what  will  pass  the  House.  The  Treasury  is  nearly  empty,  and  soon  will 
be  quite  so.  The  new  Tariff  is  falling  far  short  of  the  supposed  or  esti 
mated  receipts.  Walker  [R.  J.  Walker,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury]  says 
he  cannot  borrow  money  unless  a  duty  be  laid  on  tea  and  coffee  ;  and  the 
House  say  they  wijl  not  tax  the  stomachs  of  their  constituents  in  order  to 
flog  the  backs  of  Mexicans.  In  the  mean  time  quite  a  storm  is  brewing 
about  the  slavery  question.  The  North  is  going  to  stick  the  Wilmot 
amendment  to  every  appropriation,  and  then  all  the  South  will  vote  against 
any  measure  thus  clogged.  Finally,  a  tremendous  struggle  will  take  place ; 
and  perhaps  Polk  in  starting  one  war  may  find  half  a  dozen  on  his  hands. 
I  tell  you  the  prospect  ahead  is  dark,  cloudy,  thick,  and  gloomy.  I  hope 
for  the  best,  while  I  fear  the  worst." 

On  January  13th,  after  long  and  minute  directions  about 
home-matters,  and  another  inquiry  after  old  Robin,  he  gives 
an  account  of  a  speech  made  by  his  colleague  and  friend,  Mr. 
Toombs. 

"It  was  decidedly  one  of  the  best  speeches  I  ever  heard  Toombs  make, 
and  I  have  heard  him  make  some  fine  displays.  It  was  even  superior  to 
his  Oregon  speech.  He  had  fully  prepared  himself,  was  calm  and  slow, 
much  more  systematic  than  usual,  and  in  many  points  was  truly  eloquent. 
The  House  was  full,  and  the  galleries  crowded,  and  all  ears  were  open 
and  all  eyes  upon  him.  He  commanded  their  entire  and  close  attention 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  the  effort  has  added  full  fifteen  cubits 
to  his  stature  as  a  statesman  and  a  man  of  talents  in  the  opinion  of  the 
House  and  the  great  men  of  the  nation.  I  was  better  pleased  with  it 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  219 

than  with  any  speech  I  have  heard  this  session.  ...  He  is  destined  to 
take  a  very  high  position  here." 

The  last  letter  of  this  year,  until  the  meeting  of  Congress 
in  December  took  him  back  to  Washington,  complains  of  the 
boredom  which  he  has  to  submit  to.  To  this  infliction  he  was 
always  a  martyr.  His  patience  and  his  sympathy  were  always 
so  extreme,  that  they  almost  robbed  him  of  the  power  to  refuse 
or  to  dismiss  visitors  who  came  to  see  him  out  of  mere  curiosity 
or  idleness.  In  his  later  years  he  found  these  intrusions  less 
annoying,  though  not  less  frequent.  His  house,  his  table,  and 
his  conversation  were  always  free  to  whoever  chose  to  visit  him; 
for  the  pain  he  would  have  felt  in  refusing  any  would  have 
been  greater  than  the  annoyance  of  receiving  all. 

So,  when  in  Washington,  much  of  his  time  was  taken  up  in 
attending  to  various  matters  of  business  for  his  constituents, 
who  never  seemed  to  feel  any  hesitation  in  making  demands 
upon  his  services.  In  the  first  letter  after  his  return  to  that 
city,  we  find  him  recounting  a  variety  of  commissions  he  has 
been  attending  to  at  the  National  Intelligencer  office,  the  Pension 
Office,  the  Land  Bounty  Office,  and  the  Surgeon-Gen eraPs  Office, 
— a  day's  work  which,  he  says,  was  more  laborious  than  a  week 
in  the  House.  "I  succeeded/7  he  remarks,  "in  nothing  I  went 
for  except  at  the  Intelligencer  office,  where  I  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  pay  some  money  for  some  one  who  has  not  paid  me,  and 
I  doubt  never  will." 

The  first  session  of  the  new  (Thirtieth)  Congress  began  on 
December  6th,  and  the  first  important  business  that  came  up  was 
the  election  of  a  Speaker. 

"On  this  point,"  writes  Mr.  Stephens  (in  a  letter  of  April,  1869), 
"  Southern  Whigs  were  as  timid  as  fawns.  They  were  afraid  to  take  a 
New  England  man.  In  the  Congress  of  1845-47  we  had  but  few  Southern 
AVhigs.  In  the  new  Congress,  Thomas  Butler  King  was  the  most  promi 
nent  Southern  Whig.  He  wished  to  have  the  Naval  Committee ;  but  he 
feared  to  take  any  prominent  part  in  the  election  of  Speaker,  so  did  not 
reach  Washington  until  after  the  election  was  over,  thus  dodging  the 
question.  I  looked  upon  this  election  as  of  vast  importance,  and  went  on 
early,  getting  Toombs  to  go  with  me.  We  were  on  the  ground  when  the 
new  Southern  delegations  came  in. 

"  Virginia  had  sent  five  new  Whigs,  never  in   Congress  before,  who 


220  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

naturally  looked  to  Georgia,  for  a  lead  in  deciding  between  the  candidates 
presented  by  the  North.  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Yinton,  of 
Ohio,  were  the  contestants  for  the  nomination.  Vinton  had  nearly  all  the 
West,  and  several  of  the  Middle  States,  and  even  some  from  New  England. 
The  nomination  depended  upon  the  course  of  the  Southern  "Whigs.  I 
took  ground  boldly  for  Winthrop.  It  is  true  that  he  was  cold  and  unpop 
ular  in  his  bearing,  and  generally  deemed  aristocratic.  But  then  he  was 
a  scholar  and  a  gentleman.  He  had,  moreover,  given  a  toast  in  Boston,  on 
the  Fourth  of  July,  1845,  which  won  for  him  my  esteem  and  admiration. 
It  was  while  great  excitement  still  existed  at  the  North  about  the  admis 
sion  of  Texas,  and  Was,  in  substance  :  '  The  United  States,  our  country : 
however  bounded,  to  be  cherished  in  all  our  hearts  and  defended  with  all 
our  arms.'  This  exposed  him  to  many  attacks  from  opponents  at  home ; 
and  I  thought  the  sentiment  deserved  a  grateful  remembrance.  Hence 
my  bold  stand  for  him.  Toombs  went  with  me,  as  did  every  Southern 
Whig  present,  which  secured  his  nomination.  He  was,  of  course,  elected, 
for  the  AVhigs  had  the  House ;  but  I  never  said  one  word  to  him,  either 
before  or  after  the  nomination,  as  to  the  cause  which  led  to  it." 

In  the  letter  of  December  14th,  1847,  Mr.  Stephens  complains 
of  a  disappointment  to  which  Mr.  Winthrop,  unintentionally, 
he  supposes,  had  subjected  him,  in  appointing  him  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  "  Inclosed  with  this  I  send 
you  a  list  of  the  Committees  which  were  reported  yesterday. 
Concerning  my  own  position  I  have  naught  to  say."  Yet  he 
presently  does  say  something  concerning  it. 

"  I  should  rather  have  been  on  the  tail  end  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs,  or  Territories,  than  where  I  am.  I  now  despair  of  ever  being 
seated  on  a  committee  or  being  in  a  position  according  to  my  liking.  I 
never  was,  in  the  Legislature,  and  never  have  been,  here.  And  if  I  was  not 
well  assured  that  Winthrop  thought  he  was  doing  a  great  deal  for  me,  or 
putting  me  just  where  I  would  be  best  pleased,  I  should  never  meet  the 
Committee  at  all.  But  this  shows  how  defective  men  often  are  in  their 
judgments  upon  the  feelings,  views,  and  tastes  of  others.  He  thought 
because  I  made  a  speech  upon  the  Public  Lands  last  year,  that  my  incli 
nations  ran  that  way.  At  least  this  is  what  I  am  led  to  believe  fronTwhat 
I  have  heard  others  say.  How  the  fact  is  I  do  not  know  ;  nor  have  I  in 
timated  to  any  one  here  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  or  disappointment.  .  .  . 
I  have  not  determined  whether  I  shall  serve  on  the  Committee  or  not.  I 
am  half  inclined  not  to  serve  ;  and  yet  it  might  be  considered  evidence  of 
a  bad  spirit  to  refuse." 

Why  he  wished  a  position  on  the  Committee  on  Territories 
can  be  easily  understood  by  recurring  to  the  political  history  of 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  221 

this  time.  We  have  noted  on  an  earlier  page  the  attitude  of  the 
Restrict ionists  in  regard  to  the  organization  of  a  Territorial 
government  in  Oregon,  who  refused  to  be  bound  by  the  line  of 
36°  30',  previously  agreed  to,  and  the  bill  passed  the  House 
with  the  Wilmot  Proviso  incorporated  in  it.  In  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Calhoun  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions,  setting  forth  the 
views  of  the  Strict  Constructionists  in  regard  to  the  status  of 
the  Territories,  and  the  rights  of  their  citizens ;  but  these  were 
not  brought  to  a  vote,  and  the  bill  failed  to  pass  the  Senate,  so 
remained  as  a  battle-ground  of  parties  for  the  next  Congress. 

In  regard  to  this  matter  he  writes  in  a  letter  of  April  18th, 
1869: 

"  I  did  think  from  my  position  on  the  war,  from  my  Resolutions  on  it, 
which  brought  the  party  into  power,  that  my  proper  place  in  committee 
was  the  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  But  I  did 
not  say  a  word  to  any  one  on  the  subject,  though  when  placed  by  Mr. 
Winthrop  on  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  I  felt  deeply  mortified  and 
chagrined/' 

For  December  18th  we  find  a  long  letter  of  twelve  pages, 
giving  an  account  of  his  being  cured  of  melancholy  by  read 
ing  Burton's  Anatomy  of  that  affection.  The  day  is  damp  and 
chilly,  and  after  premising  that  such  weather  is  apt  to  bring  on 
low  spirits,  he  specifies  his  own  case,  and  relates  how  Burton 
has  cured  him.  Then  surmising  that  Linton  may  possibly  be 
similarly  affected,  he  advises  him  to  try  Burton ;  and  not  satis 
fied  with  giving  the  prescription,  forwards  a  handsome  dose  in 
the  shape  of  a  liberal  extract.  He  looks  upon  a  course  of  treat 
ment  by  Burton  as  "  homoeopathic  practice,"  though  the  remedy 
has  not  been  taken,  iu  his  case,  in  homoeopathic  doses.  "But 
the  analogy  between  Burton  and  modern  homoeopathists  holds 
in  this,  that  he  and  they  cure  by  seeming  to  feed  the  disease. 
He,  for  instance,  furnishes  the  widest  field  for  this  ill-starred 
passion  to  rove  in,  ministers  to  its  tastes,  and  even  calls  in  the 
imagination  to  create  new  objects  for  its  indulgence,  until  satis 
fied  and  sated,  the  soul,  like  the  prodigal  son,  at  last  comes  to 
itself,  wakes  up  from  its  dream,  and  laughs  at  its  own  folly." 
Then  follows  the  extract,  giving  a  list  of  real  and  imaginary 


222  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

evils  provocative  of  melancholy.  He  continues,  "  And  now  (the 
real  Ego  is  again  speaking),  if  you  can  get  through  that  para 
graph  without  laughing,  you  are  more  of  a  [illegible]  than  I  am." 
December  22d. — Linton  having  expressed  concern  about  his 
brother's  treatment  in  the  matter  of  the  Committees,  he  reverts 
to  the  subject. 

"I  think  injustice  has  been  done  me;  but,  by  a  law  of  my  nature,  I 
think  it  will  be  of  advantage  to  me.     I  am  very  much  like  some  chronom 
eters,  I  need  a  weight  or  something  hearing  down  upon  me,  to  keep  me  nf~7 
motion.     I  have  felt  it  all  my  life.     Without  it,  I  am  disposed  to  be  inert  j 
and  idle  ;  but  the  greater  the  weight,  the  greater  the  reaction.    I  therefore  J 
report  the  real  state  of  ray  feelings  to  be  gratification." 

December  25th. — A  long  letter  on  Christmas,  in  a  vein  befitting 
the  season.  He  has  congratulations  for  all  who  greet  its  return, 
except  old  maids  and  old  bachelors,  who,  he  thinks,  but  poorly 
enjoy  its  blessed  influences. 

"It  is  true,"  he  continues,  "we  have  no  great  display  here :  no  guns, 
no  crackers,  no  great  exhibition  of  spirits  of  any  kind, — though  our  land 
lady  sent  round  some  nogg  a  while  ago, — no  music,  no  plays,  no  visiting, 
and  not  even  sunshine,  for  it  has  been  snowing  the  livelong  day,  and  we 
are  all  housed.  But  nevertheless  it  is  Christmas, — that  same  good  old  day 
which  awakens  in  me  many  reminiscences  much  more  pleasant  than  even 
the  Fourth  of  July.  For  this  is  the  anniversary  of  my  own  individual  days 
of  liberty." 

On  the  29th  a  long  quotation  from  Burton  leads  him  into  a 
dissertation  on  poverty.  After  reciting  its  evils,  he  says : 

"  Yet  mankind  is  not  so  bad  after  all  as  we  sometimes  are  disposed  to 
conclude.  It  is  only  the  lowly  inclined,  the  mean  in  spirit,  the  bad  by 
nature,  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  the  tools  and  hacks  of  the  rich.  Wealth 
is  good  in  its  proper  place,  when  possessed  by  those  of  the  right  spirit. 
But  it  is  by  no  means  essential  for  the  truly  noble  to  enter  successfully 
all  the  honorable  contests  with  which  life  abounds. 

December  31st. — "  The  business  of  another  day  is  well-nigh  closed,  and 
with  it  the  business  of  another  year.  The  hour  of  midnight  is  near  at 
hand,  and  all  without  is  as  still  and  quiet  as  if  no  great  event  were  ex 
pected.  The  footman  is  no  longer  in  the  streets,  the  busy  hackman  and 
his  weary  team  are  alike  enjoying  nature's  sweet  repose.  No  sound  of 
music,  dance,  or  song  is  heard.  In  the  mansions  of  the  rich,  as  well  as 
in  the  hovels  of  the  poor,  the  inmates  are  asleep,  while  I  am  keeping  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   1L  STEPHENS.  223 

vigils  of  the  night,  and  watching  with  anxious  care  the  last  glimmerings 
of  the  year  as  they  fitfully  flicker  in  the  socket  of  time.  A  few  moments 
more,  and  it  will  be  gone  forever.  To  me  it  has  been,  in  many  particu 
lars,  a  good  friend  ;  and  I  feel  it  a  sort  of  duty  to  sit  by  it  in  its  last  mo 
ments.  ...  I  believe  that  I  have  never  passed  the  same  period  of  time 
in  my  life  with  as  few  incidents  to  affect  me  in  body  or  mind.  It  is  there 
fore  with  reluctance  I  witness  the  separation." 

Throughout  this  whole  correspondence  there  are  continual 
references  to  home  matters,  inquiries  about  humble  neighbors, 
the  servants,  individually,  and  even  the  domestic  animals,  name 
by  name,  which  for  brevity's  sake  we  omit.  This  affectionate 
interest  in  all  who  had  even  the  slightest  claim  upon  his  regard 
is  highly  characteristic  of  the  man. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Presidential  Nominations — Opinion  of  Mr.  Calhoun — Mr.  Clay — Anecdotes 
— A  Conversation  and  a  Prophecy — Death  of  Mr.  Adams — Nomination  of 
General  Taylor — The  "  Allison"  Letters — Slavery  in  the  Territories — The 
Clayton  Compromise — Speech  of  August  7th — Keturns  to  Georgia — Diffi 
culty  with  Judge  Cone — Mr.  Stephens's  Life  attempted — Public  Indig 
nation. 

THE  most  important  political  events  of  the  new  year  (1848) 
were  the  nominations  for  the  Presidency.  The  Whigs  still 
looked  upon  Mr.  Clay  as  their  great  leader,  and  his  reception 
in  Washington,  in  January,  was  most  enthusiastic.  But  the 
mass  of  the  party  had  begun  to  share  the  opinion  of  the  more 
far-sighted  among  them,  that  Mr.  Clay,  notwithstanding  his 
talents,  distinguished  public  services,  and  great  popularity,  was 
not  an  available  candidate.  There  was  an  impression  that  he 
was  "  unlucky" ;  and  besides,  the  recent  war  had  given  the 
public  a  sort  of  military  fever,  of  which  it  was  thought  a  stroke 
of  policy  to  take  advantage  by  running  a  military  candidate 
identified  with  the  late  victories.  Mr.  Stephens,  as  early  as 
1846,  had  advised  the  nomination  by  the  Whigs  of  Georgia  of 
General  Zachary  Taylor,  which  had  accordingly  been  done  in 
their  State  Convention  of  that  year.  His  opinions,  as  the  can 
vass  for  the  nomination  progressed,  will  be  seen  in  the  subse 
quent  correspondence. 

On  January  10th  he  gives  another  intimation  of  his  growing 
admiration  for  Mr.  Calhoun,  whose  character  and  talents  he  had 
always  respected,  but  whose  statesmanship  he  had  heretofore 
looked  at  too  much  from  a  Whig  point  of  view  to  do  justice  to. 

"I  send  you  the  Intelligencer  with  Mr.  Calhoun' s  speech.  Read  it.  It 
is  a  great  one.  But  for  the  few  concluding  paragraphs  it  would  be,  in 
my  opinion,  one  of  the  greatest  yet  made  on  this  Mexican  war.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Clay  has  just  reached  the  city:  a  great  crowd  greeted  him  at  the  depot 
andonade  the  welkin  ring  with  their  shouts." 
224 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  225 

The  next  day  he  writes : 

"  The  only  news  is  that  Mr.  Clay  has  produced  a  great  impression  here. 
I  have  not  seen  him  yet,  but  am  told  by  those  who  have  that  he  looks  re 
markably  well ;  better  than  he  did  ten  years  ago.  I  expect  he  will  give 
the  Whigs  some  trouble.  This  is  my  opinion  entre  nous.  I  think  he  will 
be  flattered  into  the  belief  that  he  can  be  elected ;  and  I  assure  you  that 
from  what  I  have  seen  since  I  have  been  here,  I  consider  the  effort  to  elect 
him  would  be  useless.  The  opinion  is  too  general  that  he  cannot  be  suc 
cessful:  there  is  no  confidence  in  his  luck.  He  is  certainly  a  most  remark 
able  man.  He  has  more  of  the  warmest  and  most  devoted  friends  than 
any  other  human  being,  and  more  of  the  most  sleepless  and  bitter  enemies. 
By  the  by,  I  must  tell  you  what  I  have  heard  from  divers  sources,  that  on 
his  first  interview,  when  he  got  to  his  quarters  yesterday  with  his  friends, 
among  others,  Botts,  of  Virginia,  upon  being  asked  by  Botts  what  course 
the  Whigs  should  take  in  relation  to  the  Mexican  war,  he  said,  '  Pass  the 
Resolutions  of  Stephens  of  Georgia.'  This  I  considered  complimentary. 
.  .  .QWe  have  a  great  many  politicians  in  this  country,  but  few  statesmen. 
No  more  to-night.  Houston,  of  Alabama,  is  haranguing  the  House  about 
something  of  no  importance  in  relation  to  the  employment  of  a  clerk. 
Pollock,  of  Pennsylvania,  is  replying ;  and  so  we  spend  our  time  from  day 
to  day." 

He  mentions  several  speeches  that  have  been  made  in  the 
House,  among  the  rest,  one  by  Gary,  of  Maine. 

"  He  caused  a  great  deal  of  merriment  at  his  own  expense ;  but  the  hon 
orable  member  did  not  care  for  ridicule.  He  persisted  and  finished  his 
speech.  Many  a  man  would  have  been  overwhelmed  with  mortification, 
but  Gary  triumphed,  for  he  put  down  all  laughter,  and  almost  made  the 
laughers  feel  mean.  I  could  but  exclaim,  like  Judge  Story,  Well,  now,  he 
was  a  good  fellow  !" 

Again,  referring  to  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Clay : 

"  There  was  one  expression  of  his  countenance  which  I  shall  never  for 
get.  The  conversation  was  going  on  about  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  I  put 
the  hypothetical  case  of  Scott's  refusing  obedience  to  the  late  orders  of 
Polk  suspending  him  from  command,  and  said,  '  Suppose  Scott  should 
resign  his  commission  as  our  commanding  general,  declare  himself  Em 
peror  of  Mexico,  and  appeal  to  the  soldiery  to  sustain  him,'  and  indulged 
in  some  other  pleasantry  of  that  kind,  when  Toombs  put  in,  'That,  Mr. 
Clay,  would  be  only  anticipating  our  destiny  about  forty  years.'  lie  had 
before  been  talking  of  a  letter  from  General  Worth,  in  which  he  advocates 
the  conquest  and  subjugation  of  the  whole  country,  stating  that  this  ulti 
mately  will  be  the  result,  and  that  by  doing  so  now  we  should  be  but 
anticipating  by  about  forty  years, — at  least  this  was  the  construction  put 

15 


226  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

upon  Worth's  letter  in  the  conversation.  Clay  had  been  silent  during  this 
jocular  talk,  but  when  Toombs  asked  him  the  question,  he  looked  calm, 
held  his  hands  folded  across  his  breast,  cast  his  eyes  upward  as  if  in  the 
deepest  and  sincerest  emotion,  and  said,  '/  fear  so!1  The  expression  I 
shall  never  forget." 

The  letter  thus  concludes  : 

"One  word  more,  which  I  do  not  wish  you  to  repeat  from  me,  and  that 
is,  that  I  am  now  well  satisfied  that  Mr.  Clay  will  not  allow  his  name  to 
be  used  in  the  National  Convention.  General  Taylor  will  be  nominated, 
unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken." 

At  that  time  Mr.  Clay  expressed  confidentially  to  his  friends 
his  determination  not  to  allow  the  use  of  his  name  in  the  Con 
vention,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Stephens  of  later  date. 

On  February  21st  he  alludes  to  an  event  which  produced  a 
great  impression  at  the  time. 

a  The  House  has  just  adjourned  in  great  confusion.  Mr.  Adams  has  had 
an  attack  of  apoplexy  in  his  chair.  He  is  now  in  the  Speaker's  room.  It 
is  said  that  he  cannot  survive  long.  .  .  .  The  Senate  is  in  secret  session 
on  the  project  for  a  treaty  with  Mexico.  It  is  said  that  Twist  has  unoffi 
cially  made  a  treaty  for  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  we  are  to  pay 
fifteen  million  dollars,  and  keep  twelve  thousand  troops  for  eighteen  months 
to  defend  the  court  that  made  it.  So  much  for  rumor.  I  don't  know 
whether  Polk  advises  it  or  not." 

February  22d. — "The  House  has  just  met,  and  immediately  adjourned. 
Mr.  Adams  is  still  in  the  Speaker's  room,  and  is  said  to  be  sinking  fast.  It 
is  thought  that  he  will  not  last  longer  than  a  few  hours.  I  send  you  to-day 
the  Intelligencer,  giving  an  account  of  his  attack  yesterday.  The  words  he 
uttered  after  reviving  a  little  were  very  expressive :  l  This  is  the  end  of 
earth  !'  as  some  say ;  or  as  Mr.  Abbott,  who  heard  him,  told  me,  '  This  is 
all  of  earth  !  I  am  composed.'  He  was  asked  if  he  wished  anything,  and 
answered  'My  wife.'  He  was  insensible,  however,  when  she  reached 
him.  He  looked  uncommonly  well  yesterday  morning,  and  walked  from 
his  home  to  the  House." 

Early  in  March  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  removed  his  quar 
ters  to  a  building  known  as  the  Rush  House,  which  had  been 
rented  by  Mr.  Toombs.  The  "  mess"  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Toombs,  their  two  daughters,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crittenden,  and  Mr. 
Stephens, — a  very  pleasant  and  congenial  society. 

Soon  after  his  removal,  he  gives  his  brother  his  intentions  and 
views  in  regard  to  the  approaching  Presidential  election. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  227 

"  I  am  for  Taylor  out  and  out,  because  I  think  he  can  be  elected,  and  I 
do  not  think  Mr.  Clay  can  be.  From  all  I  can  learn  he  would  not  get  as 
many  States  at  the  next  election  as  he  did  at  the  last ;  and  the  great  issues 
now  before  the  country  are  of  too  great  importance  to  hazard  them  by 
running  him  again.  .  .  .  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Clay  some  time  ago  did  come 
to  a  determination  to  withdraw,  and  declared  to  several  of  his  confidential 
friends  that  he  would  decline  in  a  public  way  when  he  got  home ;  and 
under  that  impression  the  Whigs  of  Kentucky  forbore  to  nominate  Taylor, 
which  they  would  have  done  but  for  that  assurance.  But  he  has  since 
changed  his  mind,  and  now  intends  to  get  the  nomination  if  he  can. 
Taylor  will  be  the  strongest  man  in  the  Convention.  I  have  the  count. 
It  is  true,  I  cannot  count  a  majority  of  the  whole  Convention  for  him,  but 
he  is  decidedly  stronger  than  Clay,  McLean,  and  Scott,  who  will  all  have 
friends  in  the  Convention.  When  I  wrote  you  some  time  ago  that  Mr. 
Clay  would  be  out  of  the  way,  I  relied  on  his  assurance  to  that  effect ;  and 
I  never  became  satisfied  that  he  would  disregard  that  assurance  until  last 
Saturday.  Now  I  am  for  Taylor  anyliow.  Mr.  Clay  has  been  deceived  by 
insincere  men  at  the  North,  who  only  want  to  kill  off  Taylor  with  him." 

There  are  no  more  of  these  letters  for  the  rest  of  this  spring 
and  the  following  summer,  as  Linton  came  on  to  Washington 
at  the  end  of  March  and  spent  several  months  with  his  brother. 
They  travelled  in  the  North,  and  visited  their  uncle,  James 
Stephens  (then  quite  feeble  from  the  infirmities  of  age),  in  Penn 
sylvania.  They  never  saw  him  again.  They  also  attended  the 
Whig  Convention  at  Philadelphia;  but  we  have  no  detailed 
account  of  these  movements.  Mr.  Stephens  was  not  a  delegate 
to  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  but  he  materially  aided  in  the 
nomination  of  General  Taylor  and  in  his  election.  In  fact,  the 
policy  by  which  this  election  was  secured,  and  the  Whigs  again 
came  into  power,  was  to  a  very  considerable  extent  shaped  by 
him.  Those  who  remember  well  the  campaign  of  this  year 
will  not  have  forgotten  the  two  "  Allison"  letters,  especially  the 
second,  which  became  so  celebrated  in  the  canvass.  The  history 
of  these  letters  is  as  follows: 

Mr.  Stephens  was  extremely  urgent  that  General  Taylor 
should,  as  early  as  possible,  publicly  announce  his  position  in 
regard  to  the  great  questions  of  the  day,  and  that  this  position 
should  be  the  right  one.  At  his  instance  a  letter  was  drawn  up 
at  the  Rush  House,  written,  indeed,  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  but  the 
main  ideas  suggested  by  Messrs.  Stephens  and  Toombs,  and 


228  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

framed  entirely  in  accordance  with  their  views.  Knowing  the 
importance  of  prompt  action,  Mr.  Stephens  urged  that  it  should 
be  carried  at  once  by  Major  Bliss,  of  the  general's  staff,  to  Gen 
eral  Taylor  at  Baton  Rouge.  This  advice  was  followed,  and 
Bliss  started  the  next  morning.  The  letter  purported  to  be 
addressed  to  the  public ;  but  on  the  arrival  of  Bliss  it  was  found 
that  General  Taylor  had  already  written  a  letter  to  Captain 
Allison,  explaining  his  position,  which  had  been  published. 
So  the  letter  prepared  at  the  Rush  House  was  also  addressed  to 
Allison,  and  so  framed  as  to  give  it  the  character  of  a  supple 
ment  or  postscript  prepared  after  more  mature  reflection.  This 
letter  was  the  Whig  platform.  It  was  a  master-piece  of  its 
kind;  and  in  addition  to  the  greater  personal  popularity  of 
Taylor  over  his  rival,  gave  the  Whigs  a  decided  advantage  when 
the  letters  of  the  candidates  were  compared. 

The  Slavery  question  had  now  come  to  be  a  subject  of  perma 
nent  agitation  in  Congress,  and  it  was  plain  that  no  definite  set 
tlement  was  to  be  arrived  at,  from  the  fact — shown  in  the  case 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise — that  the  agitators  and  their 
upholders  did  not  intend  to  be  bound  by  any  agreement;  how 
ever  favorable,  nor  any  compact,  however  solemn.  The  ques 
tion  this  year  came  up  in  the  guise  of  legislation  for  the  Terri 
tories  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  obtained  from  Mexico 
by  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  in  which  the  South  con 
sidered  herself  entitled  to  a  share,  as  having  equally  contributed 
to  their  acquisition,  both  in  furnishing  soldiers  for  the  fighting 
and  treasure  for  the  purchase,  while  the  North  was  bent  on 
excluding  her  from  such  participation.  Mr.  Douglas  appealed 
to  the  Senate  to  maintain  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  as  an 
equitable  basis  of  division  of  the  public  domain,  but  this  was 
rejected  in  both  Houses.  A  bill  was  offered  called  the  "  Clay 
ton  Compromise,"  which  wore  an  aspect  of  fairness  and  reason 
ableness,  and  yet  the  acceptance  of  which  would  have  been  a 
relinquishment  by  the  South  of  all  her  rights.  The  main 
features  of  this  bill  w,ere  covered  by  the  following  words : 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  legislative  power  of  said  Territory 
shall,  until  Congress  shall  otherwise  provide,  be  vested  in  the  Governor, 
Secretary,  and  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who,  or  a  majority  of  them, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  229 

shall  have  power  to  pass  any  law  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  said 
Territory,  which  shall  not  be  repugnant  to  this  act,  or  inconsistent  with 
the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  But  no  law  shall  be 
passed  interfering  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil,  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion,  or  respecting  the  prohibition  or  establishment 
of  African  slavery :  and  no  tax  shall  be  imposed  upon  the  property  of  the 
United  States,  nor  shall  the  lands  or  other  property  of  non-residents  be 
taxed  higher  than  the  lands  or  other  property  of  residents.  All  the  laws 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  if  disapproved, 
shall  be  null  and  void." 

Ill  another  section,  wherein  provision  had  been  made  for  the 
organization  of  Territorial  courts,  occurs  the  following  clause : 

"  Writs  of  error  and  appeals  from  the  final  decisions  of  said  Supreme 
Court  shall  be  allowed,  and  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the  same  regulations  as 
from  the  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States ;  except  only  that  in  all  cases' 
involving  title  to  slaves,  the  said  writs  of  error  or  appeals  shall  be  allowed 
and  decided  by  the  said  Supreme  Court,  without  regard  to  the  value  of 
the  matter,  property,  or  title  in  controversy ;  and  except,  also,  that  a  writ 
of  error  or  appeals  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  from  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  created  by  this  act,  or  any 
judges  thereof,  or  of  the  district  courts  created  by  this  act,  or  of  any 
judges  thereof,  upon  any  writ  of  habeas  corpus  involving  the  question  of 
personal  freedom,"  etc. 

This  bill  Mr.  Stephens  strongly  opposed,  and  gave  his  reasons 
for  opposing  it  in  his  speech  of  August  7th.  In  this  speech  he 
shows:  1.  That  according  to  the  law  and  usage  of  civilized 
nations,  all  laws  in  force  in  a  conquered  country  at  the  time  of 
its  conquest,  unless  they  be  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
of  peace,  or  to  the  fundamental  policy  and  organic  law  of  the 
conquering  power,  remain  in  full  force  until  altered  by  the  con 
queror.  2.  That  Mexico,  as  far  back  as  1829,  had  abolished 
slavery  throughout  the  whole  Republic,  and  confirmed  the  act  by 
subsequent  legislation.  3.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  while  it  recognized  slavery  in  those  States  in  which  it 
already  existed,  did  not  recognize  it  in  those  States  which  had 
abolished  it ;  and  consequently  there  was  nothing  in  its  abolition 
or  non-existence  in  Mexico  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  therefore  ipso  facto  annulled  by  the  conquest 
in  these  Territories.  4.  That  by  the  bill  the  Territorial  govern- 


230  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

ments  were  forbiddden  to  legislate  in  any  way  on  the  subject  of 
African  slavery,  and  it  was  provided  that  any  questions  on  that 
matter  which  might  arise  should  be  referred  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  5.  That  the  Supreme  Court, 
under  the  circumstances,  could  not  decide  that  slavery  was  law 
ful  in  these  Territories  unless  it  were  formally  established  there 
by  legal  authority.  6.  That,  therefore,  a  bill  which  placed  it 
at  the  option  of  Congress  to  determine  whether  a  Southerner 
should  or  should  not  be  allowed  to  immigrate  into  the  newly- 
acquired  Territories  with  his  negroes  was  neither  more  nor  less 
than  a  plain  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  South. 
After  proving  these  points,  he  continues  thus : 

"Then,  sir,  what  are  we  of  the  South  to  gain  by  this  Compromise? 
•  Nothing  but  what  we  would  have,  even  with  the  Wilmot  Proviso, — the 
poor  privilege  of  carrying  our  slaves  into  a  country  where  the  first  thing 
to  be  encountered  is  the  certain  prospect  of  an  expensive  lawsuit  which 
may  cost  more  than  any  slave  is  worth  ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  with  the 
absolute  certainty  of  ultimate  defeat  in  the  end,  and  with  no  law  in  the 
mean  time  to  protect  our  rights  and. property  in  any  way  whatever! 
This,  sir,  is  the  substance  of  the  Compromise,  even  in  the  most  favorable 
view  in  which  it  can  be  presented.  And  this  is  the  security  for  the  South 
which  I  had  the  temerity  to  reject!  Would  that  the  people  of  that  section 
may  ever  have  men  upon  this  floor  of  such  temerity !  I  did  reject  it,  and 
I  shall  continue  to  reject  all  such  favors.  If  I  can  get  no  better  com 
promise,  I  shall  certainly  never  take  any  at  all.  As  long  as  I  have  a  seat 
here,  I  shall  maintain  the  just  and  equal  rights  of  my  section  upon  this  as 
well  as  upon  all  other  questions.  I  ask  nothing  more,  and  I  shall  t'ake 
nothing  less.  All  I  demand  is  common  right  and  common  justice  ;  these 
I  will  have  in  clear  and  express  terms,  or  I  will  have  nothing.  I  speak  to 
the  North,  irrespective  of  parties.  I  recognize  no  party  association  in 
affiliation  upon  this  subject.  If  the  two  parties  at  the  North  combine  and 
make  a  sectional  issue,  and  by  their  numerical  strength  vote  down  the 
South,  and  deny  us  those  equal  rights  to  which  I  think  we  are  in  justice 
entitled,  it  will  be  for  the  people  of  the  South  then  to  adopt  such  a  course 
aj3__they  may  deem  proper.  I  do  not  stand  here  to  make  any  threats  in 
their  name,  nor  have  I  authority  to  commit  even  my  own  constituents  to 
any  course  of  policy.  They  must  do  that  for  themselves.  My  commission 
here  extends  only  to  the  maintenance  of  their  rights  upon  all  questions 
and  measures  that  may  come  before  me  in  this  House.  And  this  I  shall 
do  at  all  hazards." 

After  stating  the  two  possible  plans  of  compromise,  one  by 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  231 

dividing  the  territory  by  well-defined  lines,  and  the  other  by 
rejecting  the  territory  altogether,  he  concludes : 

"  The  late  treaty  is  not  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  yet,  and  will  not  be 
till  the  laws  necessary  to  give  it  effect  are  passed.  Mr.  Polk  has  not  yet 
asked  us  to  appropriate  the  money,  and  when  he  does,  it  will  be  our  con 
stitutional  right  and  duty  to  deliberate  on  the  expediency  of  making  the 
appropriation.  And  I  now  state  that,  if  I  am  here  when  that  appropria 
tion  is  made,  I  shall  exercise  this  constitutional  right,  and  I  shall  never 
vote  one  dollar  from  the  common  treasure  of  this  Union  to  pay  for  these 
Territories,  if  the  jnstitiitions.  of  my  section are L. to _be_  wholly  excluded 
from  them.  Nor  will  I  vote  one  dollar  to  carry  this  treaty  into  effect 
until  I  have  this  matter  settled,  and  what  I  consider  the  great  rights  of 
the  South  secured.  And  I  believe  this  is  the  great  lever  of  the  South 
upon  this  question.  Let  the  bill  organizing  Territorial  governments  be 
linked  with  the  appropriation  of  the  money,  and  let  the  South  present  an 
unbroken  front  against  paying  a  dollar,  if  their  institutions  are  to  be 
excluded,  and  I  shall  have  some  hopes  yet  of  obtaining  justice. 

"Now,  sir,  you  know  something  of  the  only  plans  upon  which  I  intend 
to  compromise  this  business.  But,  as  I  said  before,  if  in  all  this  I  should 
be  defeated, — if  the  South  will  not  stand  with  me  upon  this  point, — if  the 
combined  vote  of  the  North  carry  the  Wilmot  Proviso, — then,  sir,  it  will 
be  for  the  people  of  the  South  to  take  their  own  course,  such  as  they  may 
deem  their  interest  and  honor  demand.  It  is  not  for  me  to  indicate  that 
course.  But  one  thing  I  will  say,  that  I  shall  be  with  them  in  whatever 
course  they  may  take.  Their  interests  are  my  interests ;  their  fortunes 
are  my  fortunes ;  their  hopes  are  my  hopes ;  and  whatever  destiny  awaits 
them  awaits  me  also. 

"  As  I  have  buffa  few  moments  left,  I  will  recapitulate  my  positions, 
that  no  man  may  mistake  or  misunderstand  them. 

"  The  first  is,  that,  by  the  bill,  the  whole-subject  of  slavery  in  California 
and  New  Mexico,  without  any  legislation  on  the  part  of  Congress  or  the 
Territorial  governments,  one  way  or  the  other,  is  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
to  determine,  whether  it  can  legally  exist  there  or  not. 

"  2d.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  fully  recognizes,  and 
amply  protects,  the  institution  of  slavery  where  it  exists  by  the  laws  of 
the  State  or  place ;  but  it  does  not  establish  it  anywhere,  where  by  the 
laws  of  the  place  it  is  prohibited. 

"  3d.  That  California  and  New  Mexico,  being  Territories  acquired  by 
conquest,  all  the  laws  which  were  in  force  there  at  the  time  of  the  con 
quest  not  inconsistent  with'the  Constitution  of.  the  United  States,  or  the 
stipulation  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  or  which  were  purely  of  a  political 
character,  are,  according  to  well-settled  principles,  and  the  adjudications 
of  our  own  courts,  still  in  force. 

U4th.  That  as  slavery  did  not  exist  there  at  the  time  of  the  conquest, 


232  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

but  had  been  prohibited  by  express  law,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  to  whom  the  matter  was  to  be  referred  in  the  last  resort,  could 
not  be  expected,  from  the  principles  of  numerous  decisions  already  made, 
to  decide  otherwise  than  that  slavery  cannot  be  protected  there  until  the 
existing  law  abolishing  it  be  altered  by  competent  authority. 

*;5th,  and  lastly.  That  these  positions  being  uncontrovertible,  the  bill 
offered,  as  it  was,  as  a  compromise  and  a  final  settlement  of  the  question, 
amounted  to  nothing  but  a  total  abandonment  and  surrender  of  the  rights 
of  extending  the  institutions  of  the  South  to  those  Territories." 

The  main  object  of  this  speech  was  to  defeat  the  acquisition 
of  this  territory  by  Congress.  He  conceived  that  the  measure 
tied  up  the  hands  of  the  people.  He  was  utterly  opposed  to 
the  treaty  that  bought  this  country  ;  and  he  and  his  colleague 
Toombs  were,  we  believe,  the  only  two  that  voted  against  the 
appropriation  of  money  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

This  bill,  like  all  the  other  measures  introduced  with  a  view 
to  settling  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  was  rejected, 
and  Congress  adjourned  on  the  14th  of  August.  Mr.  Stephens 
returned  to  Georgia,  in  time  to  render  most  efficient  service  in 
the  campaign,  into  which  he  entered  with  zeal,  giving  all  the 
time  that  could  be  spared  from  his  professional  duties. 

Early  in  this  campaign,  however,  an  event  occurred  which  dis 
abled  him  for  a  while  for  exertions,  and  indeed  narrowly  missed 
putting  an  end  to  his  life.  Mr.  Stephens  had  heard  that  Judge 
Cone,  a  leading  politician,  had  spoken  in  very  acrimonious  terms 
of  his  action,  and  had  even  gone  so  far,  it  was  said^as  to  denounce 
him  as  a  traitor  to  his  country.  This  was  reported  to  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  said  that  he  did  not  believe  that  the  judge  had 
so  spoken ;  but  that  as  soon  as  he  should  meet  him  he  would 
ask  him  about  the  matter,  and  if  he  avowed  it,  would  "slap  his 
face."  Their  first  meeting  occurred  at  a  Whig  gathering.  After 
the  speaking  was  over,  the  company  sat  down  to  a  dinner  in 
the  grove,  an  1  during  its  progress  Mr.  Stephens  took  occasion 
to  ask  Judge  Cone  about  the  report,  which  the  latter  pronounced 
false.  Mr.  Stephens  expressed  his  gratification,  saying  that  he 
had  never  himself  believed  the  report.  He  added,  "  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  anything  offensive  to  you,  Judge  Cone;  but  I 
think  it  right  to  say,  as  it  will  certainly  be  repeated  to  you  by 
others,  that  I  said  (after  expressing  my  disbelief  in  the  report) 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  233 

that  if  you  avowed  the  expression  attributed  to  you,  I  would 
slap  your  face."  The  judge  repeated  his  disavowal,  and  the 
matter  seemed  to  have  ended  peaceably.  But  the  affair  was 
talked  of  all  over  the  State,  and  the  judge  grew  persuaded  that 
it  was  the  general  opinion  that  he  had  shown  cowardice.  Heated 
by  this,  he  wrote  Mr.  Stephens  a  letter,  demanding  a  retraction 
of  his  threat,  to  which  Mr.  Stephens  replied  in  the  same  way, 
saying  that  as  the  threat  had  been  only  contingent  upon  the 
avowal  of  the  report,  and  as  the  judge  had  pronounced  the  re 
port  false,  there  was  no  occasion  for  any  offence  or  angry  feeling. 
Before  the  receipt  of  this  reply  of  Mr.  Stephens,  Judge  Cone 
and  the  latter  accidentally  met  on  the  piazza  of  the  Atlanta 
Hotel  in  that  city.  The  judge,  in  an  angry  manner,  again 
demanded  a  retraction.  Mr.  Stephens  replied  that  the  judge  had 
made  that  demand  of  him  in  a  letter,  to  which  he  had  already 
replied  in  writing,  and  that  he  would  give  him  no  further  answer. 
Upon  this  the  judge  called  him  a  traitor,  and  Mr.  Stephens 
instantly  struck  him  across  the  face  with  a  small  cane  in  his 
hand.  Livid  with  fury,  the  judge  drew  a  dirk-knife,  and 
attempted  to  stab  him  to  the  heart.  In  his  left  hand  he  had  a 
closed  umbrella,  which  Mr.  Stephens  caught,  and  interposed  as 
a  defence,  the  judge  making  furious  thrusts  with  his  knife,  and 
wounding  Mr.  Stephens  eighteen  times  on  the  body  and  arms. 
At  length  the  judge,  who  was  a  large,  muscular  man,  rushed 
upon  him  violently,  the  umbrella  broke,  and  Mr.  Stephens  fell 
upon  his  back,  his  adversary  throwing  himself  upon  him. 
Forcing  Mr.  Stephens's  head  back  to  the  floor  with  his  left 
hand,  he  held  the  knife  above  his  exposed  throat,  crying,  "  Re 
tract,  or  I  will  cut  your throat !"  "  Never  !  Cut !"  Mr. 

Stephens  shouted.  As  the  blade  was  descending  Mr.  Stephens 
caught  it  in  his  right  hand,  which  was  terribly  mangled  as  his 
antagonist  tried  to  wrench  it  away.  Both  men  had  risen  to  their 
feet  again,  still  struggling,  when  friends  rushed  in  and  separated 
them,  and  Mr.  Stephens  was  carried  into  the  hotel,  and  his 
wounds  immediately  dressed.  One  of  the  stabs  had  penetrated 
to  within  less  than  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  from  the  heart ;  an 
intercostal  artery  had  been  cut,  from  which  in  a  few  minutes 
more  he  would  have  bled  to  death;  and  his  right  hand  was 


234  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

cut  almost  to  pieces.  It  was  thought  at  first  that  he  could  not 
possibly  survive. 

The  news  of  this  rencontre  quickly  spread,  and  caused  the 
greatest  excitement  throughout  the  State,  but  especially  in  Mr. 
Stephens's  own  county.  Hundreds  thronged  into  Crawfordville 
to  meet  the  night-train  from  Atlanta  and  learn  his  condition,  for 
the  report  had  run  that  he  could  not  survive  his  injuries.  Mr. 
Johnston  was  present,  and  will  never  ft  rget  the  intense  anxiety 
and  the  deep  and  terrible  feeling  of  resentment  that  fillecj  all 
breasts.  Men  spoke  to  each  other  in  low  tones, — all  were 
waiting  to  hear  what  the  train  would  bring ;  they  would  control 
themselves,  and  do  nothing  until  they  knew  the  truth.  When 
the  train  was  heard  approaching,  their  excitement  was  scarcely 
to  be  repressed.  As  it  glided  in,  a  passenger  shouted  that  his 
life  was  in  no  danger,  and  such  a  shout  arose  from  the  multi 
tude  as  was  never  heard  in  that  village  before. 

This  painful  affair  was  deeply  regretted  by  all,  but  by  none 
more  than  Judge  Cone,  who  had  always  been  an  amiable  man,  and 
had  never  before  been  involved  in  any  personal  encounter.  The 
taunts  of  his  political  opponents,  and  brooding  over  an  imagined 
wrong,  had  for  a  time  overthrown  his  judgment,  and  driven 
him  to  an  act  which  he  afterwards  bitterly  regretted.  Mr. 
Stephens  was  very  averse  to  the  prosecution  of  Judge  Cone  for 
this  assault,  and  refused  to  appear  as  prosecutor.  The  judge, 
however,  was  indicted,  pleaded  guilty  to  the  lesser  charge  of 
stabbing,  and  was  released  on  payment  of  a  fine  of  one  thousand 
dollars.  The  amicable  relations  between  the  judge  and  Mr. 
Stephens  were  restored  after  some  years,  and  were  never  again 
interrupted. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Stephens  had  sufficiently  recovered,  he  re 
sumed  his  work  in  the  canvass.  His  right  hand  had  been  so 
much  disabled  as  to  prevent  his  using  it  in  writing,  and  we 
have  but  two  more  letters  of  his  this  year,  both  written  with 
the  left  hand. 

After  the  election  of  Genera]  Taylor  to  the  Presidency,  and 
the  assembling  of  Congress,  in  December,  there  was  much  ex 
citement  produced  by  certain  violent  resolutions  offered  in  that 
body  by  leading  Northern  Whigs.  A  meeting  of  Southern  Sen- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  235 

ators  and  members  was  held,  of  which  Ex-Governor  Metcalf, 
Whig  Senator  from  Kentucky,  was  president.  A  committee  of 
fifteen — one  from  each  slaveholding  State — was  appointed  to 
report  upon  the  state  of  the  country;  of  which  committee  Mr. 
Stephens  was  chairman.  This  meeting,  or  convention,  had  several 
sessions,  and  adopted  a  report  (drawn  up  by  Mr.  Stephens)  to 
the  effect  that  there  was  no  cause  for  immediate  action,  further 
than  an  expressed  determination  of  a  united  South,  to  maintain 
their  constitutional  rights  if  assailed. 

Mr.  Calhoun  submitted  a  minority  report,  which  was  not 
adopted;  but  was  afterwards  published  and  extensively  circu 
lated. 

In  the  correspondence,  we  find  Mr.  Stephens  bidding  farewell 
to  the  old  year,  as  usual,  in  a  letter,  from  which  we  make  the 
following  extract : 

"  .  .  .  Let  us  indulge  in  no  forebodings  of  the  future,  but  rest  in  hope 
that  all,  under  the  guidance  of  a  kind  Providence,  will  eventuate  well; 
and  that,  whatever  the  next  twelve  months  shall  bring  forth,  will  be  the 
best  for  the  promotion  of  the  general  advancement  and  happiness  of  this 
poor,  degenerate,  and  sorely-afflicted  world.  Who  will  live  to  see  the 
close  of  1849  is  at  present  beyond  human  conjecture.  Who  are  to  be  the 
victims  of  violence,  or  slow  disease,  or  scorching  fevers,  or  racking  pains, 
or  raging  pestilences,  no  one  now  can  tell.  But  every  one  has  his  time, 
known  only  to  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  ;  and  all  should  act  upon  the 
principle  of  being  always  ready.  To  do  the  most  good  we  can  in  relieving 
misery,  supplying  want,  allaying  strife,  establishing  peace,  promoting  hap 
piness,  advancing  morals,  and  extending  intelligence  and  virtue,  and  so  to 
act  in  all  things  as  to  be  ready  at  any  time  to  close  our  career  on  earth, — 
these  are  the  great  objects  of  life.  The  close  of  every  year  fills  me  with 
sadness.  Perhaps  this  is  the  last  I  shall  ever  see.  In  view  of  such  a 
contingency,  keep  this  letter,  and  it  will  always  present  to  your  mind  a 
picture  of  my  thoughts  and  feelings  on  this  thirty-first  of  December, 
1848.  (jtwerrty  years  from  this  time  it  will  be  a  fruitful  theme  of  medi 
tation  for  you."^  -~>  , 

-f  ^  5  ^ 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  Abolitionists  in  1848— Rise  of  the  Free-Soil  Party — State  of  Feeling 
at  Washington — Attitude  of  Southern  Whigs — The  Vote  for  Speaker — 
Duty  of  the  South— A  Bad  State  of  Things — Signs  of  a  Coming  Catas 
trophe. 

OF  course  the  questions  which  Congress,  as  we  have  seen,  left 
unsettled  in  1848,  were  sure  to  come  back  with  increased  ur 
gency  in  the  next  year.  In  the  mean  time  important  political 
events  had  happened.  President  Taylor  had  been  elected  by  a 
majority  of  thirty-six  electoral  votes,  which  was  a  triumph  for 
the  Southern  Whigs.  But  a  new  element  had  appeared  in  the 
campaign.  At  the  previous  Presidential  election,  the  Abolition 
ists  had  for  the  first  time  introduced  a  candidate  who  received  a 
popular  vote  of  less  than  sixty-five  thousand.  But  there  were 
many  who,  while  not  desiring  the  abolition  of  African  slavery 
at  the  South,  which  would  have  resulted  in  the  impoverishment 
of  the  whole  country,  were  still  most  eager  not  only  to  condemn 
the  South  to  a  perpetual  and  hopeless  minority,  but  to  restrict 
her  from  growth  in  the  future,  while  opening  prospects  of  in 
definite  .extension  to  the  North.  By  this  policy  it  was  evident 
that  the  North  would  in  time  acquire  such  a  majority  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress  that  she  could  alter  the  Constitution  to  her 
own  liking,  and  thus  have  the  South,  bound  hand  and  foot,  at 
her  mercy. 

The  Territorial  question  afforded  an  admirable  fulcrum  for 
applying  the  lever.  It  seemed  so  reasonable  and  equitable  to 
say,  "  We  do  not  desire  to  interfere  with  any  of  your  rights : 
what  the  Constitution  protects  you  in  shall  not  be  meddled  with. 
But  we  do  object  to  your  carrying  slavery  into  new  Territories 
where  it  does  not  now  exist;  and  on  this  basis  we  will  resist 
you."  That  is :  all  future  Territories,  and  all  future  States,  no 
matter  how  acquired,  shall  be  ours  and  not  yours. 
236 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  237 

Upon  this  basis  the  Free-Soil  party  was  formed,  and  grew 
with  such  rapidity  that  in  the  election  of  1848  it  was  able  to 
poll  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  votes. 

The  question  with  regard  to  the  organization  of  California 
had  become  most  pressing,  too,  for  another  reason.  The  dis 
coveries  of  gold  had  attracted  multitudes  of  people,  including 
lawless  adventurers  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  with  little 
respect  for  the  rights  of  others  or  the  welfare  of  society ;  and  an 
organized  government  was  a  matter  of  prime  necessity.  All 
this  had  been  left  by  the  Thirtieth  Congress  to  its  successor,  which 
assembled  on  the  5th  of  December. 

Mr.  Stephens  reached  Washington  about  the  last  of  Novem 
ber,  and  found  everything  betokening  a  stormy  session.  He 
writes  on  December  2d  : 

"  To-morrow  is  the  great  day  for  organizing  the  House ;  and  the  ele 
ments  without"  [a  fierce  snow-storm  was  raging]  "are  not  very  unlike 
the  elements  of  passion  which  are  now  beclouding  and  casting  a  chilling 
darkness  over  coming  events.  My  most  serious  apprehensions  of  the  diffi 
culties  before  us  will,  I  fear,  be  realized  ;  the  indications  of  most  boisterous 
times  are  looming  upon  the  horizon.  I  never  saw  greater  sectional  feeling 
exhibited.  The  North  is  insolent  and  unyielding.  What  is  to  be  the 
result  I  cannot  imagine.  Winthrop  will  not  get  the  entire  Southern  vote. 
I  shall  not  vote  for  him  myself.  Last  night,  in  caucus,  we  wanted  the 
Northern  Whigs  to  agree  not  to  press  the  [Wilmot]  Proviso,  and  not  to 
favor  or  vote  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District.  This  they  would 
not  do.  I  believe  they  are  bent  on  mischief. 

"  I  quitted  the  meeting,  as  did  Toombs,  Cabell,  Morton,  Hilliard,  Owen, 
and  some  others.  I  told  them  distinctly  and  positively  that  I  should  hold 
no  connection  with  a  party  that  did  not  disconnect  itself  from  these  ag 
gressive  abolition  movements.  And  I  intend  to  abide  by  what  I  have  said. 
I  think  the  Northern  Whigs  intend  to  pass  some  obnoxious  measure  in 
reference  to  slavery,  to  compel  President  Taylor  either  to  veto  it  or  to  sign 
it.  But  enough  of  this  now.  I  am  perhaps  under  too  much  excitement. 
My  Southern  blood  and  feelings  are  up,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  am  prepared  to 
fight  at  all  hazards  and  to  the  last  extremity  in  vindication  of  our  honor 
and  rights  .  .  . 

u  The  Whigs,  I  understand,  after  we  left,  nominated  Winthrop,  and  then 
refused  to  nominate  a  Clerk,  because  he  would  have  to  be  taken  from  the 
South,  and  that  they  did  not  intend  to  grant.  The  North,  according  to 
their  views,  is  hereafter  to  have  all  the  offices.  No  Southern  slaveholder 
is  to  have  any.  But  enough.  Good-night." 


238  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

On  the  next  day  he  writes : 

"  The  House  met  to-day  at  12  M.,  221  members  only  present,  and  bal 
loted  four  times  for  Speaker,  without  electing.  The  vote  stood  :  For  Cobb, 
103 ;  AVinthrop,  96  ;  Wilmot,  8  ;  Gentry,  6,  and  several  scattering.  The 
six  votes  for  Gentry  were  given  by  Toombs,  Cabell,  Morton,  Owen,  Hil- 
liard,  and  myself.  I  consider  his  election  out  of  the  question,  unless  the 
North  makes  a  point  on  him.  There  was  no  angry  talk  in  the  House  to 
day  5  but  the  feeling  is  deep  and  intense.  We  are  to  meet  again  to-morrow, 
and  how  many  days  in  succession  to  go  through  the  same  operation  I  can 
not  say. 

"  The  Administration  here  is  in  bad  condition.  I  consider  it  as  almost 
in  extremis.  The  truth  is,  the  Cabinet  do  not  understand  their  business. 
The  greatest  blunders  that  were  ever  made  by  man  have  been  made  by 
them  all  over  the  United  States.  The  cry  of  disappointment  from  all 
quarters  is  worse  than  it  is  in  Georgia.  Clayton  is  greatly  censured,  and, 
I  think,  justly.  He  has  failed  to  redeem  his  most  solemn  promises.  .  .  . 
I  have  had  long  talks  with  Northern  Whigs  to-day,  calm  and  dispassionate, 
and  they  seemed  disposed  to  yield  nothing.  They  intend  to  carry  abolition 
anywhere  they  can  by  the  Constitution.  That  is  their  determination  as  a 
party.  I  sometimes  think  their  notion  is  to  get  rid  of  General  Taylor  for 
the  succession,  by  forcing  him  to  veto  some  such  measure.  With  such  a 
party  I  cannot  act?7/" 

December  Jfih. —  .  .  .  "Few  changes  in  the  votes  to-day.  I  am  more 
and  more  convinced  every  day  that  the  Slave  question  is  rapidly  approach 
ing  a  crisis.  £!£  the  South  intends  really  to  resist  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  and  the  forts  and  arsenals,  it  is  time  they  were  making  the 
necessary  preparations  of  men  and  money,  arms  and  munitions,  etc.,  to 
meet  the  emergency?]  I  speak  plainly  and  frankly.  It  is  no  time  for  hum 
bug  resolutions  ofgasconade.  No  step  should  be  taken  unless  we  intend  to 
stick  to  the  constitutional  Union  at  every  hazard.  For  myself,  after  thinking 
of  this  subject  as  dispassionately  as  I  could  for  several  days  under  the  excite 
ment  here,  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  a  maintenance  of  our 
honor,  to  say  nothing  of  vindication  of  our  rights,  requires  us  to  resist  the 
aggression^  In  my  course  here,  while  I  shall  pursue  in  all  things  the  policy 
which  I  shall  believe  will  most  likely  avert  such  a  result,  yet  I  shall  yield 
nothing  to  the  aggressor. )  It  is  becoming  bootless  now  to  quai'rel  with 
ourselves  about  who  contributed  most  to  the  present  state  of  things.  I 
believe  the  agitators  of  the  South  for  several  years  have  done  more  to 
eifect  it  than  all  others  united.  But  as  Southern  men  we  must  look  things 
in  the  face  as  we  find  them.  Our  fortunes  are  united,  and  our  destiny 
must  be  common. 

u  It  is  also  bootless  to  count  the  chances  of  success  in  a  struggle  with 
the  Federal  Government.  No  people  who  are  not  fit  for  the  lowest  degra 
dation  count  the  cost  or  hazard  of  defending  their  honor  or  their  rights. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  239 

It  is  better  to  fall  in  a  manly  struggle  than  to  live  and  fatten  in  inglorious 
ease.  And  I  would  rather  to-day  see  the  whole  Southern  race  buried  in 
honorable  graves  than  see  them  insolently  trampled  over  by  such  canting, 
whining,  puling  hypocrites  as  are  now  setting  themselves  up  as  their  judges 
and  reformers.  I  would  rather  see  Georgia  share  the  fate  of  Hungary 
or  Poland  than  see  her  truckling  to  the  dictation  of  Northern  hordes  of 
Goths  and  Vandals  who  are  now  threatening  her  with  their  power. 

"  But  this  is  the  gloomiest  side  of  the  picture.  I  do  not  think  we  should 
be  so  easily  subdued.  We  have  spirit  and  energy,  and  we  should  have 
friends  also.  Let  us,  then,  be  firm.  These  views  I  give  you  in  the  worst 
aspect  of  the  question.  Perhaps  all  this  may  be  averted.  I  shall  do  all 
in  my  power  to  avert  it." 

December  5th. — ll  Another  day  passed  and  nothing  done.  .  .  .  The  feel 
ing  of  the  North  now  seems  abating.  Perhaps  a  large  portion  of  them 
may  yet  be  brought  to  terms.  If  so,  a  great  deal  will  be  gained.  .  .  . 
I  find  the  feeling  among  the  Southern  members  for  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union — if  the  anti-slavery  [measures]  should  be  pressed  to  extremity- 
is  becoming  much  more  general  than  at  first.  Men  are  now  beginning 
to  talk  of  it  seriously,  who,  twelve  months  ago,  hardly  permitted  them 
selves  to  think  of  it.  And  the  North  is  beginning  to  count  the  cost.  Not 
the  Free-Soilers,  but  the  mercantile  class.  I  shall  not  yet  despair  of  the 
Republic ;  but  while  I  hope  for  the  best,  I  am  for  being  prepared  for  the 
worst." 

December  12ih. — "  As  for  the  state  of  things  here,  it  '  gets  no  better 
fast.'  We  had  the  most  .disgraceful  scene  in  the  House  to-day  you  ever 
witnessed.  The  Democrats  had  formed  a  coalition  with  the  Free-Soilers 
for  the  election  of  Brown,  of  Indiana.  The  bargain  was  discovered  just 
before  it  was  finally  consummated.  Brown  had  pledged  himself  to  the 
Free-Soilers  to  give  them  satisfactory  Committees  on  the  Territories  and 
on  this  District.  Upon  this  Wilmot,  Giddings,  &  Co.  voted  for  him  side 
by  side  with  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Burt,  of  South  Carolina,  and  all  the  rest 
of  the  same  stripe.  Somehow  or  other  the  secret  got  out  just  before  the 
vote  was  finally  taken  or  announced,  and  Seddon,  Bocock,  and  McMullen, 
of  Virginia,  changed  their  votes  and  defeated  the  election  by  two  votes. 
Then  the  disclosure  was  made,  and  such  a  row  you  never  saw.  We  broke 
up  pretty  much  in  a  row,  and  where  or  when  the  matter  will  end  no  one 
Can  tell." 

It  is  easy  now  to  see  that  all  this  could  have  but  one  end, 
though  the  final  catastrophe  was  delayed  for  eleven  years.  When 
the  ship,  in  the  Eastern  story,  is  Hearing  the  lodestone  rock,  be 
fore  the  crash  and  break-up  come,  the  pins  and  bolts  fly  from 
the  timbers.  Amid  all  the  storms  through  which  the  ship  of 
the  Union  had  hitherto  passed,  the  sections,  however  strained, 


240  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

had  been  bound  together  by  the  continuity  of  the  great  parties, 
by  the  existence  of  a  large  and  powerful  body  of  Democrats  at 
the  North  and  of  Whigs  at  the  South.  But  now,  under  the 
irresistible  attraction  of  sectionalism,  the  bolts  began  to  fly.  We 
see  Northern  Whigs  "  determined  as  a  party  to  carry  abolition 
anywhere  they  can."  We  see  Northern  Democrats  entering  into 
secret  coalition  with  the  Free-Soilers.  We  see  Southern  Whigs 
and  Democrats  indignant  and  alarmed  ;  and  the  man  who  of 
all  the  Congress  had  perhaps  the  strongest  and  most  disinterested 
attachment  to  the  Union,  saying  that  it  is  time  to  be  considering 
the  question  of  resistance,  and  preferring  for  his  beloved  State 
the  fate  of  Hungary  or  Poland  to  the  degradation  of  "  truck 
ling  to  the  dictation  of  the  North."  Had  the  South  been  wise, 

O  7 

she  would  have  made  ready  in  time  for  the  storm  that  was  sure 
to  come.  But  there  were  always  flattering  voices  proclaiming 
"  peace,  peace,"  when  nothing  but  a  truce  was  possible,  and 
assuring  that  the  next  compromise  or  compact  would  be  certainly 
observed,  despite  the  experience  of  the  past.  Then,  among  a 
large  portion  of  the  people  there  was  a  pathetic  unreasoning 
devotion  to  "the  Union;"  not  the  wise  attachment  that  prized  it 
only  so  far  as  it  was  the  means  toward  an  e.nd,  but  a  sort  of  blind 
fetish- worship  that  looked  upon  it  as  something  in  itself  su 
premely  sacred  and  precious,  even  though  it  should  have  failed 
to  accomplish  the  objects  for  which  it  had  been  established. 
With  these  a  few  empty  and  resonant  phrases  about  "  the  great 
and  glorious  Union,"  "  the  best  government  the  world  ever  saw," 
etc.,  produced  an  effect  in  the  way  of  blinding  them  to  their 
interests  and  their  rights,  to  the  history  of  the  past,  and  the  in 
evitably  approaching  catastrophe,  that  we  can  only  call  magical, 
since  it  confounds  all  reason.  Truly  the  South  in  these  days 
was  the  antitype  of  Sterne's  father,  whom  "you  might  have 
cheated  ten  times  a  day,  if  nine  had  not  been  sufficient  for  your 
purpose." 

December  15th. — "  I  send  you  to-day  two  papers  containing  the  reports 
of  the  speeches  of  Toombs  and  myself,  with  others  of  the  House,  day 
before  yesterday.  That  was  the  most  exciting  day  I  ever  witnessed  in  that 
Hall.  .  .  .  How  or  when  we  shall  get  a  Speaker  I  do  not  see.  I  am  still 
of  opinion  that  the  Legislature  [of  Georgia,  then  in  session]  ought  to  take 
no  stand  that  they  will  not  in  good  faith  carry  out  to  the  bitter  end.  .  .  . 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  241 

K  If  they  intend  to  fight  in  any  contingency,  let  them  say  so;  and  if  they 
\  do  not,  let  them  not  say  so.  There  is  but  one  step  from  the  sublime  to  the 
\  ridiculous,  in  politics  as  well  as  in  poetry." 

December  17th. — u  We  remain  in  stain  quo  ante  l>ellum.  No  Speaker 
yet.  But  you  know  the  old  adage:  'money  makes  the  mare  go':  and  I 
think,  from  indications  within  the  last  forty-eight  hours,  that  landladies' 
and  landlords'  bills  will  begin  to  operate  in  a  few  days.  The  members 
begin  to  want  money  terribly,  and  there  is  no  getting  a  dollar  except  on 
credit  until  the  House  organizes.  But  for  the  root  of  all  evil,  I  believe 
the  House  would  probably  never  organize  as  now  constituted.  Since  the 
speaking  was  stopped  in  the  House,  the  excitement  seems  to  have  abated. 

1 There  is  nothing  so  effectual  against  quarrels  as  silence.  We  have  been 

voting  all  day  without  coming  within  cannon-shot  of  an  election.  I  think 
we  have  effectually  scotched  the  movement  fur  abolition  in  the  District  for 
this  Congress." 

December  18th.  .  .  .  ''  I  have  no  idea  when  we  shall  elect  a  Speaker,  but 
if  the  South  would  follow  my  lead,  and  act  with  my  spirit,  NEVER,  until 
the  North  came  to  terms  with  us  upon  our  rights.  This  is  my  kind  of 
resistance,  at  least  for  the  present." 

December  31st.  .  .  .  "  You  will  see  Cobb's*  Committees  in  the  Globe  to 
morrow.  I  don't  think  he  has  given  general  satisfaction.  I  shall  not 
serve  on  the  Committee  he  has  put  me  on." 

In  reference  to  these  events  Mr.  Stephens  writes,  in  April, 

1869: 

"  The  Whigs  had  carried  the  House,  but  the  Northern  wing  was  greatly 
demoralized  on  the  sectional  question.  My  purpose  and  Tooinbs's  was  to 
bring  them  to  terms  on  this  question  of  the  Speakership.  This,  in  my 
opinion,  then  and  now,  could  have  been  done  if  the  Southern  Democrats 
had  taken  and  adhered  to  a  like  position.  But  they  did  not  seem  to  me 
then  to  be  sincere  in  the  matter.  They  seemed  to  use  it  only  for  party 
purposes.  Hence  they  let  go,  elected  their  Speaker,  and  made  all  the 
capital  they  could  out  of  the  divisions  in  the  Whig  party.  The  great  evil 
was  but  postponed  and  aggravated." 

This  conduct  of  the  Southern  Democrats  in  the  House  had 
much  to  do  in  determining  Mr.  Stephens  in  his  conclusions  in 
regard  to  the  wisdom  and  expediency  of  secession.  In  other 
letters  written  in  the  latter  part  of  this  year,  we  find  indications 
of  a  growing  belief  that  the  denunciations  of  Northern  aggres 
sion,  and  threats  of  what  the  South  would  do  if  this  course  were 

*Ho\vell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  a  Democrat,  was  elected  Speaker  on  the  22d, 
under  a  resolution  of  the  House  making,  on  this  occasion,  a  mere  plurality 
of  votes  sufficient  to  elect. 

16 


242  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

persisted  in,  were  in  great  part  mere  blaster  of  the  political 
leaders.  He  was  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  while  the  North 
was  growing  ever  more  regardless  of  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  South,  the  latter  was  becoming  more  and  more  incapable  of 
offering  effectual  resistance. 

Another  old  friend  dies  on  this  31st  of  December.  But  he  is 
in  no  mood  for  moralizing.  Perhaps  this  has  not  been  so  much 
of  a  friend,  for  he  cares  not  to  sit  up  and  watch ;  so  inclosing  in 
his  letter  a  charade  and  a  puzzle  for  his  brother's  amusement;  he 
goes  to  bed. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster  in  the  Senate — Signs  of  the  Times — President 
Taylor's  Policy — A  Glance  into  the  Future— Dismemberment  of  the 
Union  Inevitable — What  the  South  should  do — Mr.  Clay's  Compromise 
Resolutions — Mr.  Clay's  Speech — A  Sketch  of  the  Scene  and  the  Audi 
ence — Sorrow  for  a  Humble  Friend — A  Wedding  in  Low  Life — Death 
of  Calhoun — The  Galphin  Claim— Seward's  Plot — The  Secretary  of  State 
and  Sir  Henry  Bulwer — "  A  most  Wonderful  Characteristic  of  our 
People" — Sits  for  his  Portrait — Hot  Debates  in  both  Houses — Principle 
of  Non-interference  established — Death  of  President  Taylor — Passage 
of  Mr.  Clay's  Bill,  and  Renewed  Pledges  of  the  Northern  States- 
Georgia  Resolutions — Jenny  Lind. 

STORMILY  the  old  year  had  closed,  and  stormily  the  new  year 
entered.  No  previous  Congress  had  had  within  it  such  fierce 
elements  of  contention.  Sectionalism  was  making  rapid  strides; 
and  the  voices  of  those  who  counselled  peace  and  justice  were 
lost  in  the  general  clamor.  Steadily  but  surely  the  forces  were 
gathering  into  solid  phalanx,  North  against  South ;  the  Norjth 
seeing  in  the  future  a  tempting  vision  of  absolute  power,  and 
the  South  beginning  to  feel  that  withdrawal  from  the  Union  or 
unconditional  submission  would,  ere  long,  be  the  only  alterna 
tives  left  her. 

Still,  there  were  men  whose  wisdom,  patriotism,  and  eminent 
position  did  much  to  avert  for  a  time  the  inevitable  catastrophe. 
Mr.  Clay  had  returned  to  the  Senate,  where  he  joined  Mr.  Web 
ster  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  so  that  "  the  great  Trio/7  as  they  were 
called,  were  again  in  the  arena. 

On  January  15th,  1850,  Mr.  Stephens  writes  to  Linton: 

u  The  general  signs  of  the  times  augur  no  good,  as  I  read  them.  Men's 
•minds  are  unsettled.  The  temper  of  the  country  is  fretful.  The  cen 
trifugal  tendency  in  our  system  is  now  decidedly  in  the  ascendant." 

January  21st. — "  In  the  message  received  to-day  you  will  see  that  the 
policy  of  General  Taylor  is  that  the  people  inhabiting  the  new  acquisitions 
shall  come  into  the  Union  as  States,  without  the  adoption  of  Territorial 

243 


244  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

governments.  To  this  policy  he  is,  and  considers  himself,  committed. 
And  I  now  believe  if  any  Territorial  government  [bill]  should  be  passed 
with  the  Wilmot  Proviso  in  it,  he  would  withhold  his  approval.  We  shall 
therefore  most  probably  have  California  and  New  Mexico  as  States  before 
long.  But  the  bearing  of  this  policy  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day  is 
a  matter  still  to  be  considered.  Will  the  Slavery  question  be  settled  in 
this  way  ?  I  think  not.  My  deliberate  opinion  at  this  time,  or  the  opinion 
I  have  formed  from  the  best  lights  before  me,  is  that  it  will  be  the  begin 
ning  of  an  end  which  will  be  the  severance  of  the  political  bonds  that 
unite  the  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  States  of  this  Union.  I  give 
you  this  view  rather  in  opposition  to  the  one  I  ventured  to  express  on  the 
evening  of  the  25th  of  December.  I  then  looked  to  settlement  and  adjust 
ment  and  a  preservation  of  the  Union ;  and  as  far  as  I  then  saw  on  the 
horizon,  I  think  the  opinion  was  correct.  There  will,  perhaps,  be  a  tem 
porary  settlement  and  a  temporary  quiet.  But  I  have  lately  been  taking 
a  farther  and  a  bi'oader  view  of  the  future.  When  I  look  at  the  causes 
of  the  present  discontent,  j5Tam  persuaded  there  will  ,never  again  be  har 
mony  between  the  two  great  sections  of  the  Unionj/  When  California  and 
New  Mexico  and  Oregon  and  Nebraska  are  admitted  as  States,  then  the 
majority  in  the  Senate  will  be  against  us.  The  power  will  be  with  them 
to  harass,  annoy,  and  oppress.  And  it  is  a  law  of  power  to  exert  itself, 
as  universal  as  it  is  a  law  of  nature  that  nothing  shall  stand  still.  Cast 
your  eye.  then,  a  few  years  into  the  future,  and  see  what  images  of  strife 
are  seen  figuring  on  the  boards !  In  the  halls  of  Congress,  nothing  but 
debates  about  the  crimes  and  the  iniquity  of  slavery,  and  the  duty  of  the 
General  Government  to  withhold  all  countenance  of  the  unholy  institution 
of -human  bondage.  Can  Southern  men  occupy  seats  in-  the  halls  of  a 
Legislature  with  this  constant  reproach  ?  It  is  not  reasonable.  It  is  more 
than  I  expect.  It  is  more  than  (human  nature  can  expect.  The  present 
crisis  may  pass ;  the  present^djustmentrmay  be  'made  ;  but  the  great 
question  of  the  permanence  of  slavery  in  the  Southern  States  will  be  far 
from  being  settled  thereby.  And,  in  my  opinion,  the  crisis  of  that  ques 
tion  is  not  far  ahead.  The  very  palliatives  how  so  soothingly  administered 
do  but  more  speedily  develop  the  stealthy  disease  which  is  fast  approach 
ing  the  vitals.  .  .  .MVIy  opinion  is  that  a  disraembernien^  of  this  Republic 
is  not  among  the  improbabilities  of  a  few  years  to  comeT  In  all  my  acts 
I  shall  look  to  that  event.  I  shall  do  nothing  to  favor  it  or  hasten,  but  I 
now  consider  it  inevitable. 

"Were  I  in  our  Legislature,  I  should  certainly  vote  against  any  resolu 
tions  on  the  admission  of  California  and  New  Mexico,  or  any  other  State, 
because  of  clauses  in  their  Constitutions  against  slavery.  That  is  not  a 
point  on  which  to  make  an  issue.  The  South  was  injured  by  the  acquisi 
tion  under  the  treaty  which  provided  for  their  admission,  not  by  the  fulfil 
ment  of  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  after  it  has  been  ratified  in  all  due 
forms  known  to  our  Constitution.  But  I  should  not  say  much  in  praise 


LIFE   OF   ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  245 

of  the  Union.  C  I  see  nohnjip^jo^thft  South  from  th^ ..Ujoinn. I  do  not 

believe  much  in  resoTutions,  any  way.  I  am  a  good  deal  like  Troup  in 
this  particular.  If  I  were  now  in  the  Legislature,  I  should  introduce  bills 
reorganizing  the  militia,  for  the  establishment  of  a  military  school,  the 
encouragement  of  the  formation  of  volunteer  companies,  the  creation  of 
arsenals,  of  an  armory,  and  an  establishment  for  making  gunpowder.  In 
these  lies  our  defence.  \J_tell  you  the  argument  is  exhausted  ;  and  if  the 
South  do  not  intend  to  be  overrun  with  anti-slavery  doctrines,  they  must, 
before  no  distant  day,  stand  by  their  arms.?  My  mind  is  made  up ;  I  am 
for  the  fight,  if  the  country  will  back  me.  And  if  not,  we  had  better 
have  no  '  Resolutions'  and  no  gasconade.  They  will  but  add  to  our 
degradation. 

^""  In  reference  to  the  Legislature,  I  should  prefer  that  nothing  should  be 
done  in  the  way  of  resolutions,  but  the  expression  of  the  fixed  and  unani 
mous  determination  of  our  State  to  support  the  Union  under  the  Consti- 
;  tution  and  its  compromises,  and  to  resist  to  the  utmost  of  our  means  any 
(violation  of  its  letter  and  spirit  by  Congress,  so  far  as  the  institution  of 
[slavery  is  concerned.  These  are  my  feelings,  and  this  is  the  language  I 
sKould  hold.  Partisans  and  demagogues  might  take  care  of  themselves. 
To  this  complexion  it  will  come  at  last,  (it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  South  can  stave  off  this  question^—-^^  have,  ultimately,  to  submit 
or  fight.  .^. 

a  Tlie  Wilinot  Proviso  will  not  pass.  That  is  an  obsolete  idea.  Slavery 
will  not  be  abolished  in  the  District  this  Congress,  and  perhaps  not  in  six 
or  eight  years.  But  it  will  be  done  in  the  lifetime  of  those  now  on  the 
stage  of  action ;  and  the  South  will  be  held  up  by  public  sentiment  in  the 
North,  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  to  the  whole  world  as  polluted  with 
the  crime  of  human  .bondage.  My  course  shall  be  directed  to  the  future. 
I  shall  regard  with  little  interest  the  events  of  the  few  intervening  years. 
"  I  consider  the  Wilinot  Proviso  a  humbug.  In  itself  it  is  a  dispute 
about  *  goats'  wool.'  I  should  regard  its  passage  as  a  good  cause  of  re 
sistance  only  so  far  as  it  might  be  considered  an  insult  to  the  South.  The 
expression  to  the  world  of  the  deliberate  opinion  of  the  Federal  Government 
that  institutions  tolerated  in  the  South  deserve  public  censure  and  national 
odium,  would  be  no  small  offence  to  the  people  of  fifteen  States  of  the 
Union.  / 

"  One  other  though tS^Cpuld  the  South  maintain  a  separate  political 
organization?  On  this  I  havetkeught  a  great  deal.  It  has  been  the  most 
perplexing  question  to  my  mind.  The  result  of  my  reflections  is  that  she 
could,  if  herpeople  be  united.  She  would  maintain  her  position,  I  think, 
better  than  the  North.  She  has  great  elements  of  power.  But  I  cannot 
dwell  upon  this  now." 

On  January  29th,  Mr.  Clay  presented  a  series  of  Resolutions 
known  as  his  "  Compromise/'  on  the  subjects  of  chief  agitation 


246  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

at  the  time,  or  what  he  called  "  the  five  bleeding  wounds." 
These  were :  the  admission  of  California  as  a  State  under  the 
Constitution  she  had  prepared ;  the  organization  of  Territorial 
governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico ;  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  between  New  Mexico  and  Texas ;  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia ;  the  non-rendition  of  fugitives  from  service. 
On  these  Resolutions  Mr.  Clay  delivered  one  of  his  most  cele 
brated  speeches,  of  which  we  shall  hear  more  presently. 

Of  the  nature  of  these  Resolutions  Mr.  Stephens  thus  speaks 
in  his  Constitutional  View  of  the  War  (vol.  ii.  p.  199) : 

"  To  understand  the  bearing  of  his  Resolutions  and  the  difference 
between  them  and  the  final  acts  of  Congress  on  the  subjects  embraced  by 
them,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  before  the  meeting  of  this  session  of  Con 
gress,  and  without  any  authority  from  Congress,  the  people  of  California 
had,  during  the  summer  of  1849,  under  a  proclamation  of  General  Riley, 
of  the  United  States  army,  then  in  command  of  that  military  district, 
called  a  convention  which  had  framed  a  constitution  with  an  exclusion  of 
slavery,  and  asked  to  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union  under  it.  This 
was  understood  to  have  been  done  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  of  General 
Taylor's  Administration,  which  was  to  get  rid  of  the  vexed  question  by 
stimulating  the  people  of  the  Territories  to  form  State  constitutions,  with 
the  exclusion  of  slavery  in  them,  and  for  them  thus  to  apply  for  admission 
into  the  Union  without  any  previous  authority  from  Congress.  This  policy 
met  the  approval  of  very  few  of  any  party.  To  say  nothing  of  other  con 
siderations,  the  people  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico  were  in  no  condition  to 
become  States. 

u  Mr.  Clay^s  Compromise  proposed  to  admit  California  under  the  con 
stitution  so  formed ;  to  organize  Territorial  governments  for  Utah  and 
New  Mexico,  without  any  restriction  as  to  slavery  5  to  settle  the  question 
of  boundary  between  New  Mexico  and  Texas,  by  negotiation  with  that 
State ;  to  pass  an  efficient  act  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves,  and 
to  abolish  the  slave-trade,  as  it  was  called,  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
These  propositions,  taken  together,  like  the  Administration  plan,  satisfied 
very  few  members,  either  of  the  Senate  or  the  House.  The  great  majority 
of  the  North  were  utterly  unwilling  to  abandon  the  restriction  of  slavery 
in  the  Territories.  A  formidable  minority  of  the  same  section  was  equally 
unwilling  to  comply  with  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  requiring  the 
rendition  of  fugitive  slaves.  This  latter  class,  also,  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  bare  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but 
insisted  upon  a  total  abolition. 

"On  the  Southern  side,  an  overwhelming  majority  were  opposed  to 
the  admission  of  California  as  a  State,  under  the  constitution  so  formed, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  247 

irregularly,  and  without  the  authority  of  law.  The  class  of  Southern 
Whigs  referred  to  were  willing  to  admit  California  under  her  constitution  •, 
but  required  that  in  the  organization  of  the  Territorial  governments  for 
Utah  and  New  Mexico,  the  people  from  the  South,  settling  and  colonizing 
those  Territories,  should  be  permitted  to  carry  their  slaves  with  them,  if 
they  chose  ;  and  that  the  whole  people,  then,  should  be  permitted  to  frame 
such  constitutions  as  they  might  please  in  reference  to  African  slavery ; 
and  upon  their  application  for  admission  into  the  Union,  they  should  be 
received  as  States  without  any  Congressional  restriction  upon  that  subject." 

February  10th. — In  answer  to  some  of  his  brother's  strictures 
on  the  conduct  of  certain  members  of  the  Georgia  Legislature 
he  has  much  to  say,  of  which  this  is  a  part : 


. 


"  I  would  not  for  the  world  court  the  good  will  of  either  a  knave  or 
fool  by  the  sacrifice  of  principle ;  but  I  would  not  quarrel  with  them, 
nor  change  my  conduct  towards  them  because  of  their  not  appreciating 

my  motives  or  conduct.     I  look  upon as  a  most  consummate 

knave,  and  yet  I  suppose  he  will  be  sent  to  the  N[ashville]  Convention] 
and  there  take  a  high  stand  on  Southern  Rights  !  .  .  .  What  is  to  become 
of  us  I  cannot  tell.  But  everything  I  see  around  me  augurs  the  approach 
o£  anarchy.  The  opinion  I  gave  you  some  time  ago  is  strengthened  by 
time.  I  see  no  prospect  of  a  continuance  of  this  Union  long.  The  Nash 
ville  Convention  will  be  held.  It  will  be  the  nucleus  of  another  sectional 
assemblage.  A  fixed  alienation  of  feeling  will  be  the  result.  The  anti- 
slavery  feeling  and  feeling  of  dismemberment  may  be  abated,  but  it  will 
return  with  increased  force.  It  is  the  idea  of  the  age,  the  uionomania  of 
the  century  in  which  we  live.  Its  march  is  onward,  steady  and  stealthy, 
like  the  approach  of  some  mystejaous  epidemic.  When,  where,  or  how  it 
is  to  end,  God  only  knows.  Slf  we  had  virtue  and  patriotism  among  our 
people  and  not  demagogism,  Ishould  hope  much  from  a  Southern  Confed 
eracy.  But  I  fear  such  men  as andLc ^  and  all  of  that  class,  can 
not  safely  control  the  destinies  of  any  pex>pje.  j  They  may  create  a  revolu 
tion,  but  they  cannot  build  up  a  good  government.  Other  heads,  other 
hands,  and  other  hearts  will  be  necessary  for  such  a  work.  We  have  the 
ability,  the/natural  position,  and  the  resources  for  a  great  and  prosperous 
people.  ^AH  the  elements  of  power  and  progress  are  still  within  reach. 
I  All  we  want  is  the  good  sense,  the  forecast,  the  sound  judgment,  and  the 
'•proper  principles  to  exert  them  rightly^n  order  to  give  us  all  that  a 
nation  ought  to  have  for  its  elevation  arrri>,renown.  f  But  I  fear  we  should 
soon  degenerate  into  factions  headed  by  bad  leaders  who  would  look  only) 
to  their  own  distinction.  We  must,  however,  make  the  most  and  the  best 
[of  events?]  as  they  pass.  Great  ones  are  ahead  of  us,  of  this  I  feel 
certain.  I  The  next  quarter  of  a  century  will  be  an  important  epoch  in  the 


248  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

history  of  the  Western  Continent.     Those  who  are  now  entering  into  life 
will  necessarily  be  conspicuous  actors  in  it." 

February  llth. — "  The  California  Constitution  has  at  length  arrived. 
.  .  .  My  opinion  as  to  what  will  be  the  proper  course  upon  the  admission 
of  California  is  not  yet  made  up.  It  will  depend  upon  so  many  events 
and  developments,  that  I  have  thought  it  wise  not  to  be  hasty  in  coming  to 
a  conclusion.  Everything  here  is  uncertain.  We  are  like  a  set  of  fellows 
at  sea,  trying  to  make  port  in  a  fog.  There  is  no  seeing  a  rod  before  you, 
and  no  one  pretends  to  know  where  we  are  drifting.  There  is  a  great 
deal  in  luck  I  have  heard  you  say :  my  greatest  hope  at  this  time  for  safety 
is  in  some  fortunate  turn  of  that  sort;  or  rather,  I  would  say,  that  my 
greatest  hope  is  in  the  hands  of  Providence.  I  hope  all  will  yet  turn  out 
well;  but  I  do  not  see  how  or  when.  The  dark  hour,  it  is  said,  is  just 
before  day :  may  it  be  so  with  regard  to  our  present  position  of  affairs  !  I 
do  not,  however,  feel  half  that  gloomy  spirit  that  I  felt  three  winters  ago 
when  the  war  was  raging  and  I  saw  all  these  difficulties  in  the  distance. 
The  storm-cloud  was  then  gathering ;  and  as  in  nature  the  most  painful 
and  terrible  moment  is  when  the  horizon  is  blackening  with  the  coming 
tempest,  s<5  is  it  with  me  in  this  matter.  The  fury  of  the  gale  gives  life  to 
the  scene.  Nothing  is  so  depressing  to  the  spirits  as  the  hushed  calm  which 
precedes  the  devastating  whirl  of  the  tornado  or  sweep  of  the  torrent. 
When  it  is  upon  you,  there  is  some  exhilaration  in  its  force  and  fury,  a 
feeling  somewhat  kindred  to  the  excitement  of  battle.  Such  is  iny  con 
dition  now,  and  such  is  the  condition  of  things  here,  and  hence  I  never 
spent  a  more  cheerful  and  agreeable  winter  in  Washington.  The  same 
remark,  I  believe,  is  applicable  to  all  around  me.  The  members  are  all 
friendly  in  their  intercourse ;  and  to  see  Northern  and  Southern  men 
together  you  would  not  suppose  there  was  anything  like  enmity  between 
them." 

February  20tli. — After  a  long  and  rather  humorous  description 
of  that  humorous  personage,  Senator  Foote,  Mr.  Stephens  com 
ments  on  the  fact  of  there  being  at  the  time  so  remarkable  a 
conjunction  of  distinguished  orators  and  statesmen  in  the  Senate. 
He  singles  out  Calhoun,  Webster,  Clay,  and  Benton  as  stars  of 
the  first  magnitude  and  "  master-spirits  of  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century,  at  least  on  this  continent."  A  little  below  them  he  places 
Cass,  and  a  little  lower,  but  still  distinguished,  Houston,  of 
Texas.  He  then  refers  to  Mr.  Clay's  speech  on  his  Resolutions  : 

"  The  excitement  in  the  country,  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the 
subject,  as  well  as  the  eager  desire  of  thousands  to  hear  him,  the  great 
orator  of  the  age, — these  feelings  had  extended  not  only  throughout  this 
city  and  Baltimore,  but  the  news  that  he  was  to  speak  on  that  day  [Feb- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  249 

ruary  5th]  had  gone  to  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston,  and  from  all 
these  places  and  many  others  more  distant  men  and  women  had  come  in 
great  numbers  to  see  and  hear  him." 

Some  of  the  prominent  persons  are  thus  sketched : 

,  .  .  .  "Millard  Fillmore,  occupying  the  conspicuous  seat  erected  for 
the  second  officer  of  the  Government.  .  .  .  His  countenance  is  open  and 
bland,  his  chest  full.  His  eye  is  bright,  blue,  and  intelligent ;  his  hair 
thick  and  slightly  gray.  His  personal  appearance  is  striking  ;  and  no  one 
can  look  at  him  without  feeling  conscious  that  he  is  a  man  far  above  the 
average.  On  his  right,  near  the  aisle  leading  to  the  front  door,  sits  Cass 
with  his  hands  folded  in  his  lap  as  if  to  hold  up  his  protruding  and  super 
incumbent  abdomen  ;  his  sleepy-looking  eyes  occasionally  glancing  at  the 
galleries,  and  then  at  the  crowd  pressing  in  below.  Ben  ton  sits  in  his 
well-known  place,  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  and  giving  all  who  desire  it 
a  full  view  of  his  person.  One  vacant  seat  is  seen  not  far  off  on  the  same 
side  of  the  House.  A  vacant  seat  in  such  a  crowd  excites  the  attention  of 
all.  'Whose  seat  is  that?'  goes  in  whispers  around.  '  It  is  Calhoun's, — 
not  well  enough  to  be  out  yet.'  '  Who  is  that  sitting  by  Cass?'  says  one. 
'  That  is  Buchanan, — come  all  the  way  from  home  to  hear  Clay.'  'What 
thin-visaged  man  is  that  standing  over  yonder  and  constantly  moving?' 
'  What,  that  old  skeleton  of  a  man  yonder  ?'  '  Yes.'  '  That  is  Ritchie  of 
the  Union.''  '  Who  is  that  walking  down  the  aisle  with  that  uncouth  coat 
and  all  that  hair  about  his  chin?  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  swaggerer? 
He  can't  be  a  Senator.'  '  That  is  Sam  Houston.'  '  But  where  is  Webster? 
I  don't  see  him/  '  He  is  in  the  Supreme  Court,  where  he  has  a  case  to 
argue  to-day.'  See  Corwin,  and  Badger,  and  Berrien,  and  Dawson,  all 
near  Clay ;  all  of  them  quiet  while  Clay  pursues  his  writing.  On  the 
opposite  side,  Butler,  and  Foote,  and  Clemens,  and  Douglas. 

"  After  the  carriage  of  the  motion  of  Mr.  Mangum  to  proceed  to  the 
consideration  of  the  order  of  the  day,  Mr.  Clay  folds  his  papers  and  puts 
them  in  his  desk,  and  after  the  business  is  announced,  rises  gracefully  and 
majestically.  Instantaneously  there  is  a  general  applause,  which  Mr.  Clay 
seems  not  to  notice.  The  noise  within  is  heard  without,  and  the  great 
crowd  raised  such  a  shout  that  Mr.  Clay  had  to  pause  until  the  officers 
went  out  and  cleared  all  the  entrances,  and  then  he  began.  He  spoke  on 
that  day  two  hours  and  fifteen  minutes.  The  speech  was  reported  in  the 
Globe  word  for  word  as  he  uttered  it.  I  never  saw  such  a  report  before. 
His  voice  was  good,  his  enunciation  clear  and  distinct,  his  action  firm, 
his  strength  far  surpassing  my  expectation.  He  had  the  riveted  gaze  of 
the  multitude  the  whole  time.  When  he  concluded,  an  immense  throng  of 
friends,  both  men  and  women,  came  up  to  congratulate  and  to  kiss  him." 

February  24th. — "  Toombs  will  make  a  speech  this  week,  and  so  will  I, 
if  I  get  well  enough.  We  do  not  intend  to  defend  the  position  of  Georgia 
Democrats  in  their  resolutions  in  the  Legislature  touching  the  admis- 


250  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

sion  of  California.  Whether  I  shall  vote  finally  for  it  is  not  certain,  and 
will  depend  upon  other  matters.  If  it  can  be  connected  with  such  other 
schemes  of  compromise  as  I  am  in  favor  of,  I  shall  certainly  vote  for  it.  It 
is  said  here  by  some  who  pretend  to  be  informed,  that  Mr.  AVebster  intends 
shortly  to  make  a  speech  which  will  win  him  golden  opinions  from  the 
Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande.  How  it  will  turn  out  I  cannot  say.  I  give 
it  to  you  only  as  one  of  the  on  dits,  and  I  do  that  sub  rosa.'"1 

March  6th. — This  is  in  answer  to  a  letter  communicating  the 
probable  death  by  an  accident  of  a  humble  kinsman,  Andrew 
Jones. 

"  Poor  Andy !  How  often  have  I  thought  of  him  !  How  often  have  I 
sympathized  with  him  !  and  how  often,  when  furthest  removed  from  him, 
has  my  compassion  gone  out  to  him !  Many  of  the  joyous  days  of  my 
boyhood  were  spent  with  him.  In  my  tender  years,  when  oppressed  with 
real  and  imaginary  trouble,  when  I  had  no  one  to  condole  with  me,  I  often 
sought  him  out  and  found  relief  in  his  innocent  and  simple  diversions. 
Whole  days  and  nights  I  have  taken  refuge  from  the  buffeting  world  in  the 
sunshine  of  his  mild  and  gentle  spirit.  In  the  hours  of  bitterest  affliction 
he  was  always  near  to  administer  comfort  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  .  .  . 
The  day  father  died,  when  I  went  out  into  the  old  field  and  threw  myself 
upon  the  ground  almost  crushed  with  anguish,  Andy  was  near  me.  He 
lay  by  my  side  upon  the  grass,  and  lamented  as  if  he  too  had  lost  a  father. 
And  can  it  be  true  that  his  body  was  mangled  and  life  extinguished  with 
no  kind  hand  to  minister  to  his  sufferings?  Oh,  Andy,  Andy!  would  I 
could  have  been  there  in  your  last  moments  !  .  .  .  Life  has  many  changes. 
I  have  passed  through  many,  and  perhaps  many  more  are  in  store  for  me, 
but  I  never  can  forget  my  early  associations  with  Andy.  .  .  .  Poor  fellow  ! 
Our  lots  in  life  have  been  cast  in  different  places;  but  it  makes  my  heart 
bleed  to  think  of  the  past  and  to  think  of  him.  .  .  .  Well,  no  marble  may 
mark  his  grave ;  but  the  sod  above  him  shall  not  beunbedewed  with  tears, 
should  I  ever  be  permitted  to  pay  such  a  tribute  to  his  memory.  .  .  .  Last 
Friday  night,  the  night  before  this  accident,  I  had  a  dream  that  filled  me 
with  apprehension  that  some  bad  news  would  reach  me.  In  my  dream  I 
saw  brother.  I  knew  him  :  I  talked  to  him.  But  oh  how  changed  from 
the  likeness  he  used  to  wear  !  He  seemed  to  be  a  messenger  from  another 
world,  but  vanished  before  announcing  the  object  of  his  mission.  I  tried 
to  talk  to  him  of  his  own  last  sufferings,  but  got  no  reply.  .  .  .  Life  is  full 
of  mutation.  We  are  all  but  bubbles  on  the  tide  of  time.  There  will  soon 
be  left  but  few  of  my  former  friends ;  but  as  the  number  grows  smaller, 
my  love  for  them  increases.  As  the  hopes  of  life  die  out,  my  spirit  turns 
toward  the  graves  of  my  departed  friends.  I  have  stronger  inclinations 
towards  home  now  than  ever.  I  am  utterly  sick  of  this  place,  of  public 
men  and  public  affairs.  .  .  .  But  I  am  grieved  and  afflicted,  and  will  close 
this  disconsolate  strain  by  bidding  you  good-night." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  251 

March  24th. — A  bit  of  home-news.  A  neighbor's  servant*  has 
put  in  a  request  to  have  Eliza  (his  cook)  to  wife.  He  has  no 
objection. 

"Tell  Eliza  to  go  to  Sloman's  and  get  her  a  wedding-dress,  including  a 
pair  of  shoes,  and  to  have  a  decent  wedding  of  it.  Let  them  cook  a  sup 
per,  and  have  such  of  their  friends  as  they  wish.  Tell  them  to  get  some 
'  parson  man'  and  be  married  like  Christian  folks.  Let  the  wedding  come 
off  some  time  when  you  are  at  home,  so  that  you  may  keep  order  among 
them.  Buy  a  pig,  and  let  them  have  a  good  supper.  Let  Eliza  bake  some 
pound-cake,  and  set  a  good  wedding-table." 

March  29th. — "  Since  Tuesday  I  have  been  busy  investigating  the  charge 
of  Preston  King  against  the  Speaker.  The  Committee  reported  yesterday. 
Their  report  was  unanimous,  and  was  also  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
House.  A  baser  or  more  malignant,  as  well  as  groundless,  charge  was 
never  made  against  any  man  than  that  against  Cobb.  It  was  without  the 
color  of  a  pretext." 

March  31st. — "  The  Angel  of  Death  has  just  passed  by,  and  his  shadow 

is  seen  lingering  upon  the  startled  countenances  of  all.     A  great  man  has 

just  fallen — Calhoun!     His  race  is  ended.     His  restless  and  fiery  spirit 

sleeps  in  that  deep  and  long  repose  which  awaits  all  the  living.     He  died 

Ihis  morning  about  seven  o'clock.     Peace  to  his  ashes!     His  name  will 

n  long  be  remembered  in  the  history  of  this  country.     He  has  closed  his 

/  career  at  a.  most  eventful  period  of  that  history,  and  perhaps  it  is  most 

(fortunate  for  his  fame  that  he  died  just  at  this  time." 

April  4th. — A  letter  mostly  about  the  Galphin  claim,  in  which 
Governor  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  then  Secretary  of  War,  was 
interested,  and  from  which  he  received  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  dollars.  Much  blame  was  heaped  on  Mr.  Crawford 
in  reference  to  this  matter.  Mr.  Stephens  writes : 

"  Of  course  Crawford  is  not  to  be  blamed  in  any  respect.  For  the  claim 
was  not  adjusted  in  his  department.  It  was  allowed  and  settled  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  ;  and  it 
is  but  just  to  those  officers,  and  it  should  be  known  that  neither  of  them 
knew  that  their  colleague  in  the  Cabinet  had  any  interest  in  the  claim 
until  after  it  was  adjusted  and  paid.  Crawford  was  by  contract  of  fifteen 
years  to  have  half  of  the  recovery.  He  is  a  lucky  man  in  old  claims,  but 
a  purer  man,  I  believe,  is  rarely  to  be  met  with." 

April  12th. — "  The  state  of  affairs  fills  me  with  deep  interest  and  con 
cern  for  the  future.  We  have  great  troubles  ahead.  Campbell,  the  Clerk, 
died  to-day.  We  shall  have  trouble  in  electing  a  successor,  and  lots  of 

*  Harry,  afterwards  widely  known  as  the  faithful  major-domo  of  Liberty 
Hall. 


252  LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

troubles  beside.  I  am  beginning  to  look  for  a  general  bloiv-up  before  long. 
This  Administration  cannot  get  along  with  this  Government.  I  am  pained 
and  made  heart-sick  at  witnessing  their  folly." 

April  loth. — "  I  feel  less  interest  in  politics,  and  particularly  in  parties, 
than  I  ever  did.  I  don't  think,  if  spared  many  a  year  to  come,  that  I 
should  ever  again  feel  any  deep  interest  in  the  success  of  any  ticket  upon, 
mere  party  considerations.  The  principles  at  issue,  and  the  men  before 
the  country,  combined,  shall  always  hereafter  control  my  vote.  (AJl^parties 
are  corrupQand  all  party  organizations  are  kept  up  by  bad  men  for  cor 
rupt  purposes.  I  am  out  of  party.  I  have  been  very  much  pained  lately 
at  seeing  the  course  of  men  that  I  once  thought  well  of,  and  for  whose 
elevation  to  office  I  strove  so  hard.  My  only  consolation  is  the  conscious 
ness  of  the  integrity  of  my  own  motives.  I  looked  to  nothing  but  the 
common  good  and  prosperity  of  the  country.  I  was  green  enough  to  sup 
pose  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  disinterested  patriotism.  I  find  I  was 
mistaken.  I  feel  mortified  at  my  disappointment ;  but  bear  my  mortifica 
tion  as  I  do  a  bruise  or  a  sprain.  I  shall  endeavor  to  avoid  such  accidents 

in  future.     The  men  to  whom  I  allude  are  , ,  and .     These 

men,  I  think,  I  had  put  in  the  Cabinet:  I  know  I  contributed  to  it.  I  am 
inclined  to  feel  that  the  responsibility  rests  upon  me.  I  would  not  have 
you  understand  me  as  saying  anything  against  them  further  than  that  I 

have  been  disappointed  in  the  course  of  policy  they  would  pursue.     • 

is  kindly,  honest,  and,  I  think,  free  from  all  intrigue;  but  he  is  wholly 
unfit  for  his  present  place.  He  takes  no  interest  in  public  affairs  ;  he  con 
sults  with  nobody  on  the  propriety  of  his  appointments,  and  makes  great 

blunders  in  them.    As  for ,  I  am  much  more  disappointed  in  him,  for 

I  find  he  is  a  scheming,  intriguing  politician.  .  .  .  He  has  done  more  to 
ruin  this  Administration,  I  think,  than  all  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 
together.  He  has  Taylor's  confidence.  Taylor  is  pure  and  honest :  his 
impulses  are  right;  but  he  suffers  his  own  judgment  to  be  controlled 

by  others',  and  by  no  one  so  much  as .     The  great  blunder  he  made 

was  in  suffering  himself  to  be  influenced  by  Seward.     Seward  '  came  it 

over  .     I  have  no  doubt  an  alliance  was  formed  between  them  before 

Congress  met.  The  extent  of  the  implied  understanding  (to  call  it  nothing 
else)  I  do  not  know:  but  the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  North  were  to  be 
brought  to  the  support  of  Taylor  by  Seward  ;  not  by  a  surrender  of  the 
sentiment,  but  by  making  Taylor  the  head  of  their  party, — not  as  an 
abolitionist,  but  as  a  liberal  man  of  the  South,  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery,  and  willing  for  the  majority  of  the  men  of  the  North  to  carry  out 
any  measure  they  might  think  proper.  The  Whig  party,  in  other  words, 
was  to  absorb  the  Free-Soil  party  in  the  North,  and  become  the  great  anti- 
slavery  party  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  '  Locos'  at  the  North  would 
be  put  down  by  their  affiliation  with  slavery.  The  whole  North  would  be 
Whig.  Taylor  would  be  re-elected,  and  then  Seward  would  succeed,  and 
a  long  list  of  successions,  doubtless,  loomed  up  in  the  opening  vista.  .  .  . 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  253 

I  have  told  him  that  his  policy  would  ruin  General  Taylor.  It  will  break 
down  his  Administration,  North  and  South,  and  leave  him  with  a  smaller 
party  than  Tyler  had.  .  .  . 

"  I  told  you  last  fall  that  in  my  opinion  Taylor  would  sign  the  Proviso. 
You  may  now  understand  why  I  thought  so.  That  point  alone  would  not 
have  caused  me  to  break  with  the  Whig  party ;  but  I  soon  saw  that  the 
expectation  was  that  Winthrop  was  to  be  elected  by  a  coalition  of  the 
Southern  Whigs  with  the  Free-Soilers,  and  the  Whig  party  was  to  be  the 
anti-slavery  party.  ...  If  we  carry  McClernand's  Bill,  we  shall  do  it 
against  the  whole  power  of  the  Government,  and  the  Whig  party  will  be 
defunct." 

April  17th. — "  I  told  you  some  days  ago  about  the  general  feeling  here 
among  the  Whigs,  North  and  South,  against  the  Cabinet.  That  is,  I  told 
you  that  a  general  blow-up  might  be  looked  for.  I  now  say  that  no  blow 
up  may  be  expected  soon.  The  Cabinet  intend  to  stand.  I  don't  think 
they  intend  to  correct  their  errors,  but  they  do  intend  to  hold  their  places. 
I  often  hear  good  things  about  them,  collectively  or  individually.  I  heard 
a  good  one  on  Clayton  the  other  day.  To  relish  it,  you  ought  to  know 
him.  He  is  good-natured,  can't  deny  anybody  anything,  promises  all 
things  to  all  men,  and  disappoints  all.  Another  feature  in  his  character 
is  that  he  can't  keep  a  secret, — a  great  fault  in  a  Secretary  of  State.  lie 
tells  everything  that  happens  in  Cabinet  meetings,  and  some  things  that 
don't;  for  he  sometimes  promises  a  poor  fellow  an  office,  and  after  voting 
against  him  in  the  Cabinet,  goes  out  and  tells  him  that  he  was  overruled. 
Well,  it  so  happened  not  very  long  ago  that  the  Secretary  and  Sir  Henry* 
Bulwer  had  a  talk,  as  the  report  goes,  about  Nicaragua.  The  next  day, 
or  the  day  after,  the  substance  of  the  talk  appeared  in  the  correspondence 
of  one  or  two  Northern  papers.  This  annoyed  Sir  Henry,  and  at  his  next 
interview  he  said,  '  How  is  this,  Mr.  Clayton  ?  I  thought  our  conversation 
here  was  private.  I  have  mentioned  it  to  no  one,  and  yet  I  see  what  we 
conferred  about  at  our  last  meeting  published  in  all  the  papers.  Can  you 
explain  it?'  This  to  most  men  would  have  been  embarrassing,  but  to  our 
Falstaffian  Secretary  of  State  it  was  a  small  matter.  With  all  imaginable 
composure  he  said  that  he  could  not  account  for  it.  Such  things  annoyed 
him  extremely, — they  perplexed  him  almost  to  death.  It  was  owing  to 
the  character  of  our  people :  they  were  always  meddling  with  things  that 
did  not  concern  them.  These  publications  were  nothing  but  the  l  surmises 
of  prurient  letter-writers  that  were  a  pest  of  the  city.'  Sir  Henry,  to  this 
rational  explanation,  replied  by  barely  saying  that  he  had  often  heard  that 
the  people  of  this  country  were  distinguished  for  the  faculty  of  guessing, 
but  he  confessed  that  it  exceeded  anything  he  had  been  prepared  to  expect. 
The  Secretary  remarked  that  it  was  '  a  most  wonderful  characteristic  of 
our  people,  sir.  They  find  out  everything  that  is  done.  They  seem  to 
me,  sir,  to  find  out  one's  very  thoughts.  It  annoys  me  to  death.'  " 

April  17th.    (Second  letter.}—  .  .  .  "  We  are  just  in  the  midst  of  the  fight 


254  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

here.  There  never  was  such  a  scene  in  the  Senate  as  was  enacted  there 
to-day.  Clay  was  in  his  glory.  He  rose  to  his  full  height  and  was  mag 
nificent.  I  did. not  know  such  thrilling  eloquence  was  in  him.  Foote  and 
Benton  were  having  a  fight." 

April  21st. — A  long  letter  of  advice  to  his  brother.  He  is 
not  anxious  for  him  to  obtain  public  office,  but  is  most  solicit 
ous  that  he  shall  establish  a  reputation  and  character  in  the 
community. 

"  You  have  no  idea  of  my  solicitude  on  this  point.  I  have  never  told 
you  how  intensely  I  feel  about  it.  Perhaps  it  is  wrong  to  indulge  such 
feelings,  but  all  the  hopes,  desires,  and  ambitions  of  my  life  are  now  cen 
tred  in  you.  I  feel  as  if  my  race  is  nearly  run.  I  feel  that  I  am  unfit  to 
mix  among  men.  I  am  inclined  to  retire,  at  an  early  day,  from  public  life, 
and  seek  the  pleasures  of  solitude." 

April  28th,  Sunday. — He  has  been  very  unwell  for  several 
days,  so  instead  of  going  to  church,  stays  at  home  and  writes. 

"I  thought  I  should  feel  better  in  spending  my  time  in  writing  to  you 
than  in  turning  my  attention  to  the  faces  and  fantastic  attire  of  the  fash 
ionable  crowd  who  go  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  in  this  city  of  Pharisees. 
If  I  knew  where  there  was  some  humble  building  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
town  where  the  meek,  the  lowly  in  heart,  congregate,  I  might  venture  out 
and  spend  an  hour  with  pleasure  and  profit  to  myself;  but  not  knowing  any 
such  place,  I  have  resolved  to  stay  in  my  room  and  talk  a  little  with  you." 

May  2d. — "From  the  report  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech  at  Faneuil  Hall, 
it  seems  that  he  intends  to  '  stand  up  to  the  rack.'  He  certainly  opens 
well.  I  know  it  was  pretty  confidently  expected  in  certain  high  quarters 
here  when  he  left  that  his  nerves  would  fail  him  when  he  came  to  speak 
face  to  face  with  the  Faneuil  Hall  philanthropists.  But  I  have  hopes  of 
him  now." 

May  7th. — "  I  sat  to-day  for  my  portrait.  What  do  you  think  of  that? 
It  is  one  of  the  strangest  events  of  my  life.  I  never  thought  before  of 
having  my  portrait  taken.  I  was  walking  by  a  committee-room, — I  saw 
some  portraits, — walked  up  to  look  at  them.  The  man  of  the  brush  asked 
me  to  let  him  take  mine.  I  told  him  I  might,  perhaps,  at  some  other  time. 
He  said  then  would  do  as  well  as  any  time :  he  would  not  want  me  to  sit 
longer  than  ten  minutes  at  a  time ;  so  down  I  sat  and  to  work  he  went. 
When  all  was  done,  I  asked  him  how  much  he  charged  for  them,  lie  said 
'  fifty  dollars.'  I  walked  off,  thinking  I  was  a  fool  for  once.  His  pictures 
are  very  good,  but  fifty  dollars  is  too  much  for  mine.'1'1 

May  10th. — "  The  portrait  I  mentioned  some  days  ago  is  completed,  and 
a  most  detestable-looking  thing  it  is.  The  consolation  I  have  is  that  all 
my  friends  say  it  is  no  likeness  at  all.  So  much  for  a  disposition  to  en- 


LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  255 

courage  the  fine  arts.  .  .  .  The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  in 
the  Senate  has  come  in.  Its  fate  is  very  doubtful.  Great  efforts  are  being 
made  to  defeat  it.  These  efforts  cume  from  the  Free-Soilers,  the  Northern 
Whigs,  and  the  Southern  Democrats.  The  main  bill  for  the  admission 
of  California  and  the  creation  of  governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico, 
is  not  so  good  as  I  should  like  it  to  be.  The  worst  feature  of  it  was  put 
into  it  by  Southern  men  on  the  Committee  A  It  is  that  which  restricts  the 
Territorial  Legislature  from  passing  any  laws  respecting  African  slavery. 
Now  when  the  rights  of  the  South  are  in  such  hands,  what  can  be  done'? 
I  have  pretty  much  made  up  my  mind  to  go  for  it,  let  it  come  in  what 
shape  it  will,  so  the  Proviso  is  not  in  it.  I  shall  make  a  speech  denning 
my  position,  and  asserting  that  we  get  nothing  by  it;  that  slavery  is  abol 
ished  there,  and  that  without  some  law  passed  by  the  governing  power,  it 
\_Js_  useless  to  speak  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South.  But  I  shall 
say  that  in  this  opinion  a  majority  of  the  South  seem  not  to  concur.  There 
has  been  ample  time  for  a  correct  opinion  to  be  formed;  and  now  I  am 
willing  for  the  matter  to  be  tested.  I  shall  not  vote  for  it  as  a  compromise, 
but  simply  as  a  measure  to  quiet  the  country.  The  South  will  get  nothing 
by  it.  Whether  it  will  pass  the  Senate  or  House  is  now  doubtful.  A  ma 
jority  of  the  Cabinet  is  hostile  to  it.  ...  If  the  Cabinet  is  not  so6n  blown 
up,  the  Whig  party  will  be  worse  off  than  Noah's  dove;  it  will  not  have 
a  dry  spot  to  rest  a  foot  on.  I  never  saw  so  unfit  a  body  of  men  as  the 
present  Cabinet,  in  the  same  places.  I  am  utterly  astonished  at  them : 
they  have  not  common  sense.  Tyler's  Cabinet  were  shrewd  men  compared 
to  them.  But  enough.  I  am  almost  an  outsider,  and  am  beginning  to 
feel  but  little  interest  in  politics, — I  mean  party  politics.  Two  years  ago 
I  took  a  strong  dislike  to  Mr.  Clay.  The  truth  is,  he  did  wrong  and  be 
haved  badly ;  but  now  I  am  beginning  to  think  well  of  him  again,  and 
can  but  exult  occasionally  as  I  see  his  master-spirit  triumphant  over  oppo 
sition  in  the  Senate." 

May  18th. — This  being  Saturday  and  a  holiday  he  has  taken 
a  stroll,  and  records  his  meditations  in  a  letter  of  sixteen  pages. 
His  walk  has  led  him  near  the  jail, — 

"  The  house  of  criminals,  the  strong  place  for  the  lawless ;  that  doubtful 
evidence  of  civilization,  where  the  innocent  are  often  crowded  with  the 
guilty.  .  .  ^fhis  world's  justice  is  a  great  farce — no,  a  dark  tragedy]  I 
never  see  ajail  lhat  I  do  not  feel  sympathy  for  all  the  poor  inmates, 
whether  guilty  or  not :  and  I  never  see  a  poor  wretch  peeping  through 
the  iron  grates  without  thinking  that  if  all  mankind  who  have  done 
nothing  worse  than  he  were  in  similar  places,  there  would  be,  in  all  prob 
ability,  but  few  at  large.  These  poor  wretches  who  are  punished,  even 
when  guilty,  are  only  the  scapegoats:  the  great  villains  are  at  large." 

The  letter  thus  closes  : 


256  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

11 A  day  is  very  much  like  a  lifetime.  Both  have  their  morning,  their 
noon,  and  their  evening.  The  morning  with  me  was  spent  in  strolling  in 
beautiful  grounds,  over  gravelled  walks,  amid  roses  and  pansies ;  the  noon 
in  action,  exercise,  looking  for  places  not  found,  and  hunting  for  a  foun 
tain  of  lost  water  that  did  not  exist.  And  then  comes  the  evening  with 
its  meditation  and  philosophy.  After  all,  if  my  life  shall  prove  as  pleasant 
on  the  whole  as  this  day  has  been,  I  shall  have  no  cause  of  complaint.  I 
shall  desire  no  greater  blessing  than  to  see  the  sun  of  its  evening  go  down 
as  clearly  and  gently  as  the  sun  of  this  day  is  now  softly  and  sadly  laying 
his  head  upon  the  verge  of  the  western  horizon.  If  this  should  be  my 
fortunate  lot,  I  shall,  without -regret,  close  my  career  here  below,  as  I  do 
this  letter,  by  saying  to  the  world,  as  I  now  say  to  you,  '  Good-by ;  and 
may  heaven's  choicest  blessings  rest  upon  you !'  " 

Iii  June  the  excitement  culminated.  On  the  15th  of  that 
month  the  extreme  Northern  members  having  been  asked  in 
debate  if  they  would  ever,  under  any  circumstances,  vote  for  the 
admission  of  a  slave  State  into  the  Union,  refused  to  say  that 
they  would.  Mr.  Toombs,  who  had  greatly  distinguished  him 
self  by  his  eloquence  in  debate,  exposed  the  policy  of  the  Free- 
Soil  party,  and  declared  that  if  the  North  deprived  the  South 
of  her  rights  to  a  just  participation  in  the  common  territory, 
he,  for  one,  would  look  upon  the  Government  as  alien  and 
hostile,  and  he,  for  one,  would  strike  for  independence.  This 
speech  produced  the  greatest  excitement,  and  the  House  adjourned 
without  coming  to  a  vote. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  same  day,  very  nearly  similar  ^excite- 
ment  was  felt.  Mr.  Soule,  of  Louisiana,  offered  the  following 
amendment  to  that  section  of  Mr.  Clay's  bill  which  referred  to 
the  Territorial  government  of  Utah  : 

"  And  when  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be 
admitted  as  a  State,  it  shall  be  received  into  the  Union  with  or  without 
slavery  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission." 

"  This,"  says  Mr.  Stephens,*  "  presented  to  that  body  the  issue  squarely, 
as  it  had  been  presented  by  Mr.  Toombs  in  the  House,  and  covered  one 
of  the  essential  points  made  by  the  Southern  Whigs.  When  the  Missouri 
line  was  thus  for  the  last  time  voted  down  in  the  House,f  the  South  fell 

*  Constitutional  View  of  the  War  between  the  States,  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 

}•  On  the  llth  of  June,  in  the  House,  Mr.  Green's  motion  that  the  Missouri 
line  should  be  recognized  through  all  the  newly-acquired  territory,  was 
rejected  by  a  large  majority. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  257 

back  in  almost  solid  column  to  their  original  position.  They  now  main 
tained  that  there  should' be  no  Congressional  restriction  of  slavery,  either 
north  or  south  of  36°  30X.  On  this  principle  alone  \vould  they  now  settle. 
This  amendment,  therefore,  of  Mr.  Soul6  was  the  turning-point,  and  upon 
its  adoption  everything  depended,  so  far  as  concerned  Mr.  Clay's  proposed 
Compromise." 

Great  anxiety  was  felt  as  to  the  action  of  several  Northern 
Senators,  at  the  head  of  whom  stood  Mr.  Webster.  In  an 
eloquent  speech  he  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  amendment. 
This  assured  its  adoption  ;  and  thus  the  principle  of  a  division 
of  the  public  domain  between  the  North  and  South — which 
really  meant  that  all  this  domain  was  open  to  the  North,  but 
only  a  part  of  it  to  the  South — was  done  away  with  ;  the 
principle  of  non-interference  by  Congress  established,  and  the 
Government  brought  back  to  the  original  and  equitable  position 
of  the  South. 

The  further  history  of  Mr.  Clay's  bill,  which  marks  one  of 
the  most  important  epochs  in  the  political  career  of  the  country, 
is  succinctly  as  follows :  On  the  1st  of  August  the  bill  passed 
the  Senate,  but  so  modified  as  to  contain  only  that  part  providing 
a  government  for  Utah,  with  Mr.  Soule's  amendment.  Thus  it 
went  to  the  House.  Then  the  Senate  took  the  separate  parts 
that  had  been  removed,  embodied  them  in  separate  bills,  passed 
them  and  sent  them  down  to  the  House.  The  Utah  Bill  was 
referred  at  once  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole;  but  on  the 
bill  for  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  between  Texas  and  Nevv 
Mexico,  containing  an  amendment  by  Mr.  Boyd  providing  a 
Territorial  government  for  New  Mexico  (in  which  the  Soul6 
amendment  was  embodied),  there  was  a  long  and  fierce  debate 
and  a  great  display  of  partisan  tactics.  Finally,  on  the  6th  of 
September,  the  bill,  with  the  amendments,  was  passed  by  a  vote 
of  108  to  97.  The  Senate  concurred  in  the  House  amendments, 
and  the  other  measures  into  which  Mr.  Clay's  "  Omnibus"  bill 
had  been  divided,  were  speedily  taken  up  and  passed. 

Thus,  by  the  firmness  of  the  Southern  members  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  who  had  made  up  their  minds  that  they 
would  not  remain  in  the  Union  unless  the  South  were  admitted 
to  equal  rights  in  the  common  domain, — if  not  by  an  equitable 

17 


258  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

division,  then  by  the  removal  of  all  Congressional  restrictions 
on  slavery  in  the  Territories, — this  great  principle  was  established. 
a  The  Compromise/'  says  Mr.  Stephens,  "  was  an  agreement  on 
the  part  of  the  slaveholding  States  to  continue  in  the  Union,  in 
consideration  of  these  renewed  pledges  on  the  part  of  the  non- 
slaveholding  States,  through  their  members  and  Senators,  to 
abide  by  the  Constitution."  The  South  had  yet  to  learn  that 
these  renewed  pledges  were  no  more  to  be  regarded  than  the 
old  ones. 

During  the  Speakership  of  Mr.  Cobb,  at  Mr.  Stephens's  sug 
gestion,  a  change  was  made  in  the  mode  of  reckoning  the  Con 
gressional  and  political  year,  which  then  began  at  midnight  on 
March  3d,  but  was  changed  to  begin  at  noon  on  March  4th. 

In  the  month  of  June  there  are  no  letters,  Linton  being  with 
him.  The  first  w,e  find  of  interest  bears  date  July  10th,  and 
gives  an  account  of  the  President's  death.  It  closes : 

"  Thus  has  passed  away  General  Taylor.  I  had  for  him  a  high  respect 
and  sincere  regard.  I  was  mortified  almost  to  death  at  the  folly  of  his 
Cabinet ;  but  General  Taylor  was  an  honest,  well-meaning,  patriotic  man, 
and  if  he  had  obeyed  his  own  impulses  instead  of  being  governed  by  the 
foolish  counsels  of  his  Cabinet,  his  Administration,  if  he  had  lived,  would 
have  been  eminently  pacific  and  successful.  As  it  was,  with  such  as  he 
had  about  him,  it  is  perhaps  best  for  him  that  Providence  has  removed 
him.  He  is  fortunate  in  his  death." 

The  debate  on  the  Territorial  Bill,  and  the  distribution  of  the 
votes  both  for  and  against  it  among  the  Democrats  and  Whigs, 
showed  clearly  that  old  party-lines  were  loosening,  and  that  the 
time  for  a  reorganization  of  parties  had  come.  Mr.  Clay  and 
other  leaders  on  both  sides  signed  and  published  a  paper,  drawn 
up  by  Mr.  Stephens,  declaring  their  intention  of  supporting  no 
candidate  for  office  who  would  not  support  the  principles  now 
established.  In  Georgia,  in  December,  a  State  convention  was 
held,  in  which  a  series  of  resolutions  was  passed,  which  were 
afterwards  known  as  "the  Georgia  Platform/'  and  the  party 
upholding  them  as  the  Constitutional  Union  Party.  The  prin 
ciples  of  the  Compromise  measures  were  affirmed  by  both  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  Conventions,  held  in  Baltimore  in  1852, 
and  met  with  the  approval  of  the  great  majority  of  the  people 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  259 

in'  both  sections  and  of  both  great  parties ;  and  to  his  hearty 
approval  of  them  the  triumphant  election  of  Mr.  Pierce  in 
1852  was  largely  due. 

We  append  the  Georgia  Resolutions : 

"GEORGIA  RESOLUTIONS  OF  1850. 

"  To  the  end  that  the  position  of  this  State  may  be  clearly  apprehended 
by  her  confederates  of  the  South  and  of  the  North,  and  that  she  may  be 
blameless  of  all  future  consequences, 

"Be  it  Resolved  by  the  People  of  Georgia  in  Convention  assembled, 

First.  u  That  we  hold  the  American  Union  secondary  in  importance  only 
to  the  rights  and  principles  it  was  designed  to  perpetuate.  That  past  asso 
ciations,  present  fruition,  and  future  prospects  will  bind  us  to  it  so  long 
as  it  continues  to  be  the  safeguard  of  those  rights  and  principles. 

Second.  "That  if  the  thirteen  original  parties  to  the  compact,  bordering 
the  Atlantic  in  a  narrow  belt,  while  their  separate  interests  were  in 
embryo,  their  peculiar  tendencies  scarcely  developed,  their  Revolutionary 
trials  and  triumphs  still  green  in  memory,  found  union  impossible  without 
compromise,  the  thirty-one  of  this  day  may  well  yield  somewhat  in  the  con 
flict  of  opinion  and  policy,  to  preserve  that  Union  which  has  extended  the 
sway  of  republican  government  over  a  vast  wilderness  to  another  ocean, 
and  proportionally  advanced  their  civilization  and  national  greatness. 

Third.  "  That  in  this  spirit  the  State  of  Georgia  has-  maturely  consid 
ered  the  action  of  Congress,  embracing  a  series  of  measures  for  the 
admission  of  California  into  the  Union,  the  organization  of  Territorial 
governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  the  establishment  of  a  boundary 
between  the  latter  and  the  State  of  Texas,  the  suppression  of  the  slave- 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  extradition  of  fugitive  slaves, 
and  (connected  with  them)  the  rejection  of  propositions  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  Mexican  Territories,  and  to  abolish  it  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ; 
and,  while  she  does  not  wholly  approve,  will  abide  by  it  as  a  permanent 
adjustment  of  this  sectional  controversy. 

Fourth.  "  That  the  State  of  Georgia,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Convention, 
will  and  ought  to  resist,  even  (as  a  last  resort)  to  the  disruption  of  every 
tie  which  binds  her  to  the  Union,  any  future  act  of  Congress  abolishing 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  without  the  consent  and  petition  of 
the  slaveholders  thereof;  or  any  act  abolishing  slavery  in  places  within  the 
slaveholding  States,  purchased  by  the  United  States  for  the  erection  of 
forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dockyards,  navy-yards,  and  other  like  purposes  ; 
or  any  act  suppressing  the  slave-trade  between  slaveholding  States  ;  or  any 
refusal  to  admit  as  a  State  any  Territory  applying,  because  of  the  existence 
of  slavery  therein ;  or  any  act  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  slaves  into 
the  Territories  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico  ;  or  any  act  repealing  or  mater 
ially  modifying  the  laws  now  in  force  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves. 


200  LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Fifth.  "That  it  is  the  deliberate  opinion  of  this  Convention  that  upon 
the  faithful  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  by  the  proper  authorities 
depends  the  preservation  of  our  much-loved  Union." 

There  are  only  four  or  five  more  letters  of  this  year.  In 
Charleston  Mr.  Stephens  heard  Jenny  Lind  sing,  and  says  in 
several  letters  that  he  would  like  to  give  Lintotf  some  idea  of 
the  impression  her  singing  made  upon  him.  This  he  never 
quite  does ;  but  by  the  references  to  it,  the  impression  would 
seem  to  have  been  remarkable.  He  is  not  himself  much  of  a 
musician,  though  he  can  turn  an  old-fashioned  tune  not  un- 
melodiously,  especially  before  breakfast ;  and  the  voice  of  the 
"Swedish  nightingale"  seems  to  have  given  glimpses  into  a  world 
of  harmony  heretofore  undreamed  of,  and  for  which  he  can  find 
no  adequate  expression. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

Rio,  the  Dog— The  Secret  of  Mr.  Stephens's  Life— The  Campaign  of  1851— 
Re-election  to  the  House — Disappointed  Curiosity — An  Anecdote. 

ABOUT  this  time  we  notice  in  the  letters  mention  of  a  member 
of  Mr.  Stephens's  household  who  can  never  be  overlooked  by  his 
biographer.  Some  time  before  this  he  had  received  as  a  present 
a  very  large  and  fine  white  poodle,  named  Rio,  a  dog  of  unusual 
intelligence  and  affection,  to  whom  he  became  very  strongly 
attached.  While  Mr.  Stephens  was  in  Washington,  Rio  stayed 
with  Linton  at  Sparta  until  his  master  returned.  Mr.  Stephens 
would  usually  come  on  during  the  session  of  Greene  County 
court,  where  Linton  would  meet  him,  having  Rio  with  him  in 
his  buggy,  and  the  dog  would  then  return  with  his  master. 
When  this  had  happened  once  or  twice,  the  dog  learned  to 
expect  him  on  these  occasions.  The  cars  usually  arrived  at 
about  nine  o'clock  at  night.  During  the  evening  Rio  would 
be  extremely  restless,  and  at  the  first  sound  of  the  approaching 
train  he  would  rush  from  the  hotel  to  the  depot,  and  in  a  few 
seconds  would  know  whether  his  master  was  on  the  train  or  not, 
for  he  would  search  for  him  through  all  the  cars.  He  was  well 
known  to  the  conductors,  and  if  the  train  happened  to  start 
before  Rio  had  finished  his  search,  they  would  stop  to  let  him  get 
out.  But  when  his  search  was  successful,  his  raptures  of  joy 
at  seeing  his  master  again  were  really  affecting.  His  intelligence 
was  so  great  that  he  seemed  to  understand  whatever  was  said  to 
him ;  at  a  word  he  would  shut  a  door  as  gently  as  a  careful 
servant  might  have  done,  or  would  bring  a  cane,  hat,  or  um 
brella.  He  always  slept  in  his  master's  room,  which  he  scarcely 
left  during  Mr.  Stephens's  attacks  of  illness.  In  a  word,  Mr. 
Stephens  found  in  him  a  companion  of  almost  human  intelli 
gence,  and  of  unbounded  affection  and  fidelity,  and  the  tie 
between  the  man  and  the  dog  was  strong  and  enduring.  In 

201 


262  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

one  of  the  first  letters  of  the  new  year  (1851),  Mr.  Stephens 
mentions  a  dream  he  has  had  about  Rio,  and  expresses  a  fear 
that  some  harm  may  have  befallen  him. 

January  23d. — He  has  dined  at  the  President's,  with  a  very 
agreeable  party. 

"  I  was  the  first  to  leave,  and  as  I  came  to  where  the  hats  and  cloaks 
were,  the  Irish  Paddy  whom  you  know,  the  porter,  said  to  me,  with  all 
the  nonchalance  imaginable,  as  he  waved  his  hand  toward  the  hats  and 
cloaks,  '  "Well,  I  think  you  can  get  a  purty  good  one  to-night.'  .  .  .  Oh 
that- 1  were  with,  you  and  llio !  I  fear  you  do  not  feed  Rio  well  enough. 
...  I  would  not  give  one  week  at  home, — no,  not  one  night  with  you 
and  Rio,  for  all  the  pleasures  I  enjoy  here  in  a  month." 

February  3d. — A  letter  from  Linton  has  referred  to  some 
business  matters,  which,  though  not  very  momentous,  have  an 
noyed  him  considerably.  After  discussing  these,  he  continues  : 

"  After  reading  your  letter  I  relapsed  more  profoundly  into  a  musing 
mood  in  which  I  was  indulging  when  it  was  handed  me,  and  to  break  that 
spell  is  the  only  object  I  haVe  in  writing.  ^Thought  often  settles  upon  me 
like  a  nightmare,  .and  as  in  the  case  of  nightmare,  action  is  necessary  to 
break  it,  so  in  troubles  and  mental  anxieties  I  have  often  found  relief  in 
nothing  but  action  of  some  sort]  This  world  is  a  strange  place,  and  man's 
life  is  but  a  dreamy  pilgrimage  through  an  inhospitable  clime.  His  path 
is  over  mountains  and  in  deep  and  dark  valleys,  through  bogs  and  morasses, 
beset  on  all  sides  not  only  by  brambles  and  thorns,  but  by  gnats,  flies, 
mosquitoes,  stinging  insects,  and  venomous  reptiles.  Occasionally  he 
comes  to  an  open  space  where  the  light  of  heaven  seems  to  smile  with 
benignant  rays  upon  the  prospect  around  him,  and  where  he  may  pluck  a 
violet  or  a  rose.  But  ere  the  flower  withers  in  his  hands,  the  summons  of 
destiny  bids  him  onward  to  encounter  new  dangers  and  new  annoyances. 

"  Sometimes  I  have  thought  that  of  all  men  I  was  most  miserable;  that 
I  was  especially  doomed  to  misfortune,  to  melancholy,  to  grief;  that  my 
pathway  of  life  not  only  led  over  the  same  mountains,  heaths,  and  deserts 
with  others,  but  that  an  evil  genius  was  my  inseparable  companion,  fol 
lowing  at  my  side,  forever  mocking  and  grinning,  and  making  those  places 
which  in  the  lives  of  others  are  most  pleasant,  to  me  most  miserable.  If 
on  the  way  I — but  no,  it  is  useless.  The  misery,  the  deep  agony  of  spirit 
I  have  suffered,  no  mortal  knows  nor  ever  will.  The  torture  of  body  is 
severe;  I  have  had  my  share  of  that, — rheumatism,  neuralgia,  headache, 
toothache,  fever,  and  most  maladies  flesh  is  heir  to.  But  all  these  are 
slight  when  compared  with  the  pangs  of  an  offended  or  wounded  spirit. 
The  heart  alone  knoweth  its  own  sorrow.  I  have  borne  it  these  many 
years.  I  have  borne  it  all  my  life.  .  .  . 


LIFE   OF  ALEX  AM)  El!    //.  *'/'/•:  /'///•:  .VS.  263 


"I  am  tempted  to  tell  you  a  secret.  It  is  the  secret  of  my  life.  I 
never  told  it  to  any  one.  But  I  will  toll  it  to  you,  and  I  fear  you  will  not 
believe  it.  But  it  is  true;  and  if  you  nev<T  Misperted  it,  that  shows  how 
true  I  have  been  to  myself  in  keeping  it. 

"The  si-i-ivr  of  my  lif^  ha-i  \>^\\  -rn'enge.  reversed.  That  is,  to  ri-e 
superior  to  the  TU'irh-rt  or  contumely  of  the  mean  of  mankind,  by  doim' 
tin-in  good  instead  of  harm.  A  determination  to  war  even  against  fate  ; 
to  meet  the  world  irratl"  its  forces  ;  to  master  evil  with  good,  and  to  leave 
no  foe  standing  in  my  rear.  My  greatest  courage  has  been  drawn  from 
my  deepest  despair  ;  and  the  greatest  efforts  of  my  life  have  been  the  fruits 
of  a  determination,  a  firm  resolve,  excited  by  so  slight  a  thing  as  a  look. 
This  feeling,  this  principle,  —  call  it  what  you  will,  —  is  the  mainspring  of 
my  action.  When  I  have  looked  upon  the  world  and  seen  it  filled  with 
knaves  and  fools,  and  have  seen  in  the  whole  waste  not  one  well  of  water 
from  which  I  could  draw  a  drop  to  slake  my  thirsting,  parched  soul,  with 
all  hopes  blighted  :  when  I  have  been  ready  to  lie  down  and  die  under  the 
weight  of  that  grief  which  is  greater  than  all  other  griefs.  — 

'  A  young  heart  desolate 
In  the  wide  world,'  — 

I  have  often  had  my  whole  soul  instantly  aroused  with  the  fury  of  a  lion 
and  the  ambition  of  a  Caesar  by,  I  repeat,  as  slight  a  thing  as  a  look! 
What  have  I  not  suffered  from  a  look  !  what  have  I  not  suffered  from  the 
tone  of  a  remark,  from  a  sense  of  neglect,  from  a  supposed  injury,  —  an 
intended  injury  !  But  every  such  pang  was  the  friction  that  brought  out 
the  latent  fires.  My  spirit  of  warring  against  the  world,  however,  never 
had  in  it  anything  of  a  desire  to  crush  or  trample  ;  no,  only  a  desire  to  get 
above  them,  to  excel  them,  to  enjoy  the  gratification  of  seeing  them  feel 
that  they  were  wrong;  to  compel  their  admiration.  .  .  .  This  is  the  extent 
of  my  ambition  ;  this  the  length,  breadth,  and  depth  of  my  revenge.  It 
has  in  it  nothing  low  or  mean,  for  it  is  to  triumph  over  the  base  that  it 
stimulates  me  to  action.  To  be  really  sweet  it  must  be  essentially  pure,  — 
pure  in  principle,  and  pure  in  exertion. 

"  But  wliat  poof  consolation  is  this  !  What  short-lived  pleasures  attend 
victory  thus  attained  !  Sometimes  my  evil  genius,  like  Job's  comforters, 
jeers  and  taunts  my  human  kindness,  casts  scorn  upon  my  good  nature,  bids 
me  turn  cynic  and  man-hater,  —  an  Ishmaelite,  —  bids  me  raise  my  hand 
against  every  man  as  every  man's  hand  is  raised  against  me.  Oh,  the 
fiendish  genius  of  the  tempting  imp!  I  shall  take  none  of  his  counsels. 

"  Now  you  may  think  that  I  am  somewhat  moody  to-night,  to  be  in 
dulging  in  such  a  strain.  No;  not  more  than  usual.  It  is  true,  I  was 
musing  when  I  got  your  letter,  thinking  over  many  things  that  have 
annoyed  and  pained  me  excessively,  —  small  things,  it  is  true;  but  things 
that  sent  their  sting  to  the  soul,  —  to  the  very  quick  of  life,  —  and  your  letter 
added  some  fuel  to  the  flame.  But  still  I  am  not  in  what  I  sometimes  call 
a  melancholy  mood." 


2G4  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 

The  reader,  remembering  the  trust  and  confidence  that  had 
been  placed  by  his  fellow-citizens  in  Mr.  Stephens,  shown  by 
their  placing  him  in  high  public  office,  and  remembering  also 
that  he  was  in  a  position  where  he  could  give  full  scope  to  all 
his  powers,  and  exercise  no  small  influence  on  the  destinies  of 
the  country,  will  consider  such  utterances  as  these  as  the  mere 
moodiness  of  hypochondria.  That  they  are  so  in  part  cannot 
be  denied ;  bnt,  as  he  says,  no  one  knows  or  can  know  all  that 
he  has  suffered.  There  is  one  surviving  friend  to  whom  he  has 
confided  more  of  his  inner  life  than  to  any  other,  and  he  has 
been  filled  with  sympathy  at  the  revelation  of  strange  sufferings, 
and  with  admiration  at  the  fortitude  with  which  they  were  en 
dured.  Endured  and  concealed ;  for  at  this  time  it  was  only 
to  his  beloved  brother  that  he  lifted  up  even  a  corner  of  the  veil. 

In  the  summer  of  1869,  while  in  conversation  with  his 
friend,  he  alluded  to  this  letter,  and  criticised  the  use  of  the 
phrase  "  revenge  reversed."  "  It  was  not,"  he  said,  u  the  right 
word ;  but  I  could  not  find  a  better/' 

At  the  close  of  the  session  Mr.  Stephens  returned  to  Georgia, 
where  he  spent  the  rest  of  the  year.  In  the  summer  the  politi 
cal  campaign,  in  the  Southern  States,  opened  on  the  action  of 
Congress  in  regard  to  the  Territories.  The  leading  men  of  South 
Carolina,  generally,  and  many  of  those  of  other  States,  favored 
secession  from  the  Union.  Mr.  Stephens,  and  most  of  the  lead 
ing  men  of  his  State,  advised  against  separation,  and  this,  with 
his  views  on  the  subject  of  the  admission  of  California,  drew 
upon  him  much  hostility  in  South  Carolina.  His  course  in  this 
matter  was  determined,  not  by  any  doubt  of  the  right,  but  by  a 
conviction  of  the  inexpediency  of  its  exercise.  He  had  inti 
mately  studied  the  characters  of  the  leading  Southern  statesmen, 
and  he  feared  there  was  not  a  sufficient  weight  of  steadfast  un 
selfish  patriotism  and  personal  virtue  to  carry  through  such  a 
movement  successfully.  He  foresaw  that  secession  meant  war, 
and  a  war  that  would  demand  patriotism  of  a  lofty,  pure,  and 
enduring  character  to  conduct  it  successfully,  as  well  as  a  una 
nimity  in  sentiment  and  policy  such  as  could  scarcely  be  hoped 
for.  And  he  still  cherished  the  hope  that  wiser  counsels  might 
prevail;  that  the  North  would  render,  if  not  complete  justice  to 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  265 

the  South,  at  least  such  partial  justice  as  would  render  a  con 
tinuation  in  the  Union  preferable  to  separation.  One  of  his 
present  biographers  has  heard  him  say  that  if  his  whole  section 
in  1851  had  been  unanimous  in  feeling,  and  he  had  felt  any 
assurance  that  among  the  men  who  would  have  been  the  leaders 
of  a  new  confederation  were  to  be  found  the  requisite  patriotism, 
virtue,  and  statesmanship  to  carry  the  new  body  politic  through 
all  the  perils  and  trials  that  would  attend  its  birth,  he  would  have 
counselled  such  resistance  as  would  either  have  secured  equality 
under  the  Constitution  or  have  ended  in  disruption.  As  it  was, 
he  opposed  the  policy  of  secession,  and  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Toombs  and  Howell  Cobb  easily  carried  the  State.  The  Con 
stitutional  Union  party  was  formed,  on  the  platform  of  the 
Georgia  Resolutions  of  1850,  and  Mr.  Cobb  was  elected  Gov 
ernor  by  a  heavy  majority.  Mr.  Stephens  was  re-elected  to  the 
House,  and  went  on  to  Washington  at  the  opening  of  the  session 
in  December. 

There  are  but  few  letters  during  this  year.  On  October  26th 
we  find  a  very  long  one  written  from  Lagrange.  In  it  he  tells  an 
anecdote  related  by  a  Mr.  William  Campbell,  at  whose  house  at 
Atlanta  Mr.  Stephens  spent  an  evening.  He  had  been  travelling 
on  the  cars  a  day  or  two  before,  and  this  was  what  happened  : 

"  William  said  that  a  man  got  off  the  cars  at and  ran  out  on  the 

platform,  and  cried  out,  '  Aleck  Stephens  is  on  the  cars !'  whereupon  a 
number  of  persons  came  out  and  gazed  about,  and  looked  in.  One  old 
man  came  up  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  me.  Will  said  'yes.'  '  Is  he  on 
the  cars?'  '  Yes.'  '  Where  is  he?  I  want  to  see  him,'  said  the  old  man. 
'  If  you  want  to  see  him  you  must  be  in  a  hurry,  for  the  cars  will  start  in 
a  moment.'  'Oh,  I  just  want  to  look  at  him;  I  never  saw  him;  point 
him  out  to  me ;  that  will  do.'  William  then  led  him  forward  to  the  bag 
gage-car,  where  I  was  sitting  smoking,  looking  out  on  the  other  side. 
4  That  is  he,'  said  William.  The  old  man  raised  his  hands,  exclaiming, 
'  Good  Lord  !'  William  told  us  of  several  other  similar  scenes  on  the  road 
the  same  day,  how  persons  got  him  to  point  me  out.  But  they  all  laughed 
heartily  at  the  exclamation  of  the  old  man.  so  great  was  his  disappointment. 

"  I  added  to  their  glee  by  telling  them  that  the  old  fellow  was  like  a 
man  I  met,  in  Cherokee  in  1843,  who  came  up  to  me  after  I  had  spoken, 
and  said,^  Well,  if  I  had  been  put  in  the  road  to  shoot  a  smart  man,  you 
would  have  passed  safe,  sure  n  At  this — which  was  strictly  true — they 
all  laughed  more  heartily,  I  believe,  than  at  William's  story.  For  they 
then  seemed  to  laugh  with  a  liberty, — I  had  given  them  a  license  to  laugh." 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Louis  Kossuth — Speech  in  Baltimore — Marriage  of  Linton — Demoraliza 
tion  of  the  Whig  Party— A  Card— A  Vote  for  a  Dead  Candidate— Ad 
dress  at  Emory  College — Reminiscences  of  Childhood — A  Sad  Year — 
The  Galphin  Claim — Mr.  Stephens's  Speech  on  the  Bill  to  Prevent 
Frauds — Severe  Accident  to  Mr.  Stephens — Sickness — Two  Humble 
Friends. 

WE  have  but  few  letters  for  the  year  1852.  The  earliest, 
dated  January  4th,  contains  allusions  to  the  arrival  of  the  Hun 
garian  orator  Kossuth,  whose  eloquent  appeals  in  behalf  of 
Hungary  excited  an  extravagant  and  inconsiderate  enthusiasm 
in  the  public,  which  Mr.  Stephens  feared  might  influence  Con 
gress  to  take  some  step  that  would  compromise  our  foreign  rela 
tions.  There  was  a  contest  for  two  or  three  days  in  Congress 
over  a  resolution  tendering  him  a  complimentary  reception  in 
the  House,  the  majority  trying  to  suspend  the  Rules  in  order  to 
pass  it;  but  this  was  successfully  resisted  by  the  minority,  of 
whom  Mr.  Stephens  was  one. 

Being  invited  to  deliver  an  address  to  the  people  of  Baltimore 
on  Washington's  Birthday,  he  took  occasion  to  warn  the  public 
that  in  their  generous  sympathy  for  a  foreign  people  they  must 
not  forget  the  principles  of  justice  and  sound  policy.  After 
showing  the  relations  which  the  States  bore  to  each  other  in  the 
Union,  what  that  Union  was,  and  the  advantages  which  had 
flowed  and  would  still  flow  from  it  if  the  Constitution  were 
faithfully  observed  and  its  essential  principles  kept  ever  in  view, 
he  then  warned  them  of  the  perils  which  would  attend  any 
interference  with  foreign  politics,  or  entangling  alliances  with 
foreign  nations,  and  solemnly  enforced  his  warnings  with  the 
wise  words  of  Washington. 

"For  the  honor  of  Americans,"  he  continues,  "be  it  spoken  that  the 
first  attempt  to  arraign  the  wisdom  of  Washington  on  this  question  of  our 
266 


LIFE  'OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  267 

foreign  policy  was  made  by  a  foreigner.  Would  that  I  could  say  that  no 
American  had  yielded  to  the  '  insidious  wiles  of  his  influence' !  But  the 
virus  has  taken  effect;  it  is  spreading  through  the  land  ;  and  we  now  hear 
it  openly  proclaimed  in  many  places  that  it  is  time  for  us  to  assume  our 
position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  that  it  is  time  we  had  a  foreign 
policy.  What  does  this  language  mean?  Is  it  intended  by  those  who  use 
it  to  convey  the  idea  that  we  have  gone  on  for  upward  of  sixty  years  in  a 
career  of  prosperity  never  before  equalled  without  any  foreign  policy? 
Was  not  the  rule  laid  down  by  Washington,  and  acted  on  by  every  Presi 
dent  from  his  day  to  this,  a  policy?  It  was  a  policy.  It  was  and  is  the 
policy  of  attending  to  our  own  business  and  letting  other  nations  alone. 
It  was  and  is  the  policy,  the  time-honored  policy,  of  non-intervention.  It 
may  not  be  a  foreign  policy,  but  it  is  a  Washington  policy ;  by  an  observ 
ance  of  which  we  have  come  to  be  what  we  are, — one  of  the  first  nations 
of  the  earth.  Are  we  to  be  told  that  it  is  now  time  for  us  to  assume  a 
place  among  the  powers  of  the  world?  Did  not  our  forefathers  do  that 
when  they  compelled  Great  Britain,  in  1783,  to  acknowledge  our  sover 
eignty  and  independence?  Had  we  no  position  among  the  great  nations 
when  France  sought  our  alliance  in  1795  and  1796,  which  overture  was 
rejected?  Had  we  no  position  in  1812,  when  we  again  met  in  combat  our 
old  enemy,  and  the  most  formidable  foe  in  the  world  ?  Had  we  no  posi 
tion  when  British  fleets  were  driven  from  our  seas,  and  her  invading 
armies  were  cut  down  and  beaten  back  from  our  shores?  Were  the  heroic 
deeds  of  our  naval  officers,  to  whose  memory  a  marble  monument  has  been 
erected  on  the  Capitol  grounds,  performed  before  we  had  sufficient  power 
to  be  felt?  Was  the  gallant  and  daring  defence  of  your  own  city,  which 
you  have  put  in  monumental  remembrance  on  your  own  public  square,  all 
done  without  a  foreign  policy,  and  before  we  were  enabled  to  take  a  place 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth?  'Be  not  deceived,  my  fellow-countrymen  : 
we  have  had  a  policy  from  the  beginning.  It  is  a  good  policy ;  it  has 
worked  well.  Let  us  adhere  to  it." 

On  the  2d  of  February,  Linton  Stephens  married  Mrs.  Emme- 
line  Bell,  daughter  of  James  Thomas,  Esq.,  of  Hancock  County. 
Alexander  paid  the  newly-married  couple  a  visit  early  in  May. 
After  this  there  is  a  slight,  a  very  slight,  yet  sensible  difference 
in  the  tone  of  the  letters.  The  marriage  was  a  judicious  and 
happy  one,  and  had  his  entire  approval,  yet  he  could  not  but 
feel  that  there  was  a  change  in  their  relations.  Linton  was, 
now  as  always,  the  first  and  the  only  one  to  him,  but  he  was  not 
now  the  first  to  Linton.  He  does  not  now  unbosom  himself 
with  the  former  unreserved  ness:  he  writes  about  history,  litera 
ture,  and  general  topics.  In  his  letter  of  May  13th  he  goes  into 
a  long  argument  about  the  letters  of  Junius,  in  which  he  disputes 


268  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

the  Franciscan  theory.*  In  another  of  the  same  month  he 
dwells  on  the  practice  of  the  law.  He  says,  among  other  things, 
"  I  consider  that  almost  any  just  case  may  be  gained  by  mas 
terly  management.  Always  when  I  lose  a  case  I  feel  that  I 
failed  in  some  point  that  I  ought  to  have  been  better  prepared 
on.  Hence  I  always  think  a  great  deal  about  my  lost  cases.  I 
brood  over  them  as  Hannibal  may  have  brooded  over  his  worst 
defeats." 

The  summer  and  fall  of  this  year  he  spent  at  home.  He  took 
but  little  interest  in  the  Presidential  election.  We  have  seen 
that  he  had  never  been  in  thorough  accord  with  the  Whig  party, 
but  had  generally  acted  with  it  simply  because  he  preferred  its 
policy,  on  the  whole,  to  that  of  the  Democrats.  The  Slavery 
question  had  now  entirely  demoralized  the  Northern  Whig  party, 
and  he  had  not  enough  confidence  in  the  Democratic  party  to 
unite  with  them.  Between  Pierce  and  Scott,  therefore,  he  had 
but  little  choice.  A  card  was  published  in  Washington,  on  July 
3d,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Stephens,  and  bearing  the  signatures  of  a 
number  of  leading  Southern  Whigs,  giving  their  reasons  for  not 
supporting  General  Scott.  Daniel  Webster  was  the  man  of  his 
choice,  and  though  he  died  before  the  election,  many  of  his  ad 
mirers,  including  Mr.  Stephens,  voted,  after  his  death,  the  elec 
toral  ticket  bearing  his  name,  in  the  spirit  in  which  the  garrison 
of  Chateauneuf  laid  the  keys  of  their  stronghold  upon  the  coffin 
of  Bertrand  du  Guesclin. 

On  July  21st  he  delivered  by  invitation  an  address  before  the 
literary  societies  of  Emory  College,  Georgia,  in  which  he  set 
forth  the  principles  which  should  guide  young  men  in  their 
career  through  life,  and  especially  in  their  struggles  for  dis 
tinction  and  success.  This  speech  won  him  new  honors  in  an 
entirely  new  field. 

As  usual,  he  marks  the  last  day  of  the  year  by  a  letter, — a 
melancholy  one,  full  of  sad  memories. 

December  31st. —  ..."  How  time  flies,  and  how  the  years  pass  by  us ! 
I  well  remember  the  first  letter  I  ever  wrote.  It  was  in  1826.  It  was,  I 

*  This  view  he  afterwards  elaborated  in  an  Address  before  the  Literary 
Societies  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  on  August  4th,  1873,  and  subse 
quently  in  the  International  Review  of  September-October,  1877. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  269 

think,  the  second  Sunday  after  I  went  to  my  new  home  upon  the  break- 
ing-up  of  our  little  family-circle  on  the  death  of  father  and  ma.  Its  date 
therefore,  I  think,  was  May  28th,  1826.  The  letter  was  written  to  Uncle 
James  Stephens,  of  Pennsylvania,  giving  him  an  account  of  our  affliction. 
The  day  and  its  incidents  I  shall  never  forget.  Uncle  Aaron  had  gone  to 
meeting.  .  .  .  Brother  Aaron  Grier  and  I  were  both  writing  letters.  The 
day  was  clear,  calm,  and  warm.  We  had  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the  big 
room.  It  was  some  time  before  we  could  get  a  pen  a-piece.  I  need  not 
tell  you  that  at  that  time  no  such  thing  as  a  pen  of  any  kind  but  a  goose- 
quill  was  ever  heard  of,  in  those  parts,  at  least.  Our  inkstand  was  a  little 
leather-covered  phial  that  Uncle  Aaron  used  to  take  with  him  when  he 
went  from  home :  in  this  phial  was  some  cotton  that  held  the  ink ;  and  the 
pen  was  filled  by  pressing  it  against  the  saturated  cotton.  ...  I  wish  I 
could  see  that  letter  now.  I  was  all  day  at  it.  When  Uncle  Aaron  came 
home,  he  looked  over  both  letters  and  made  some  corrections,  and  then  we 
had  them  to  write  over  again.  .  .  .  This  was  my  first  letter.  It  was  the 
utterance  of  the  bitterest  grief.  As  children  come  into  the  world  crying, 
so  my  first  effort  of  speech  through  the  medium  of  writing  was  to  make 
known  by  such  signs  as  I  could  command  the  almost  unutterable  emotions 
of  a  wounded  spirit.  The  body  is  better  off  in  this  respect  than  the  soul : 
the  body  can  weep  and  cry  5  its  pains  have  a  natural  outlet.  But  the 
afflicted  soul  has  no  voice  ;  it  cannot  cry  :  it  has  no  tears  ;  it  cannot  weep. 
This  I  have  often  felt,  but  never  so  keenly  and  oppressively  as  at  the  death 
of  father.  Could  my  suffering  spirit  then  have  given  one  shriek,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  it  would  have  afforded  some  relief.  .  .  .  But  there  are  no  words 
that  can  convey  any  idea  of  the  agonies  with  which  I  was  tortured.  .  .  . 
But  where  am  I  wandering  to  ?  When  I  began  this  epistle  I  had  no  idea 
of  saying  all  this  about  my  first  letter. 

"  But  an  old  year  never  goes  out  without  receiving  from  me  a  melancholy 
farewell.  I  am  in  the  mood  of  mind  to-day  well  suited  for  such  a  leave- 
taking.  I  am  confined  to  my  room,  half  sick,  and  lonely.  I  am  sitting 
up,  but  feel  weak  and  giddy,  and  should  fall  or  faint  if  I  were  to  attempt 
to  walk  or  stand  long." 

All  the  letters  of  this  year  are  characterized  by  this  tone  of 
sadness.  Perhaps  he  would  not  have  acknowledged  it  to  him 
self,  but  we  can  see  that  his  brother's  marriage  has  had  its  inevi 
table  effect  upon  him.  It  was  a  happy  marriage ;  he  approved 
it,  was  glad  of  it  for  his  brother's  sake,  sent  cordial  messages  of 
affection  to  the  new-married  pair;  yet  his  loneliness  has  been 
made  the  deeper  by  it ;  his  life,  unblest  in  so  many  ways,  has 
had  an  added  shade  of  sadness.  The  one  nearest  and  dearest  to 
him  has  chosen  a  nearer  and  dearer,  and  to  some  extent  is  lost 
to  him ;  and  though  he  knows  not  why  it  is,  we  can  understand 


270  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

why  his  memory  went  back  to  that  early  and  first  loss  of  his 
nearest  and  dearest  twenty-six  years  before. 

A  matter  which  excited  considerable  interest  at  this  time  was 
the  "  Galphin  claim,"  to  which  some  allusion  has  already  been 
made,  and  in  the  debates  on  which,  in  the  House,  Mr.  Stephens 
took  a  leading  part.  It  is  now  well-nigh  forgotten,  but  the 
facts,  in  brief,  were  these  : 

In  1773  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  the  colony  of  Georgia,  find 
ing  themselves  in  debt,  made  a  treaty,  by  which  they  agreed  to 
cede  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  to  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain,  for  which  the  Crown  was  to  assume  and 
satisfy  the  debt.  One  of  the  creditors  was  George  Galphin, 
whose  claim,  to  the  amount  of  £9791  15s.  5cL,  was  certified 
by  the  commissioners  in  1775.  The  Revolution  then  broke  out, 
and  the  State  of  Georgia  took  possession  of  the  lands  and  gave 
them  as  a  bounty  to  soldiers.  In  1780  the  State  passed  an  act 
binding  herself  to  pay  all  those  Indian  claimants  who  had  been 
true  to  their  country  in  the  war  the  full  amount  awarded  by  the 
commissioners,  with  interest  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  Gal- 
phin's  patriotism  was  not  denied ;  but  for  want  of  money  the 
debt,  though  several  times  brought  before  the  Legislature  by  his 
son,  was  not  paid. 

Now  in  1790,  the  Federal  Government  passed  an  act  assum 
ing  the  indebtedness  which  each  State  had  incurred  for  purposes 
of  defence  during  the  War  of  Independence,  and  Georgia  finally 
referred  the  claim  of  Galphin  to  the  Federal  Legislature.  Many 
delays  occurred  in  the  various  stages  of  legislation;  but,  in  1847, 
a  committee  of  the  Senate  reported  that  the  claim  was  just,  and 
the  bill  authorizing  its  payment  passed  that  body.  In  the  next 
year  it  passed  the  House :  the  principal  was  paid  at  once,  and  the 
interest,  a  much  larger  sum,  was  settled  some  time  after.  For 
political  purposes  reports  were  spread  about  that  this  claim  was 
a  gigantic  swindle,  that  persons  high  in  office  were  parties  to  it ; 
and  for  a  while  the  cry  of  "  Galphinism,"  as  indicating  any 
monstrous  and  disgraceful  fraud  upon  the  Treasury,  had  con 
siderable  effect.  In  particular,  some  plausibility  was  given  to 
the  charge  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Crawford,  at  the  time  Secretary 
of  War,  received  a  large  sum  from  this  claim.  But  his  perfectly 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  271 

legitimate  interest  in  the  matter  long  antedated  his  secretaryship; 
the  claim  was  not  adjusted  in  his  department;  and  it  was  allowed 
by  the  Attorney-General  and  paid  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  without  either  of  them  knowing  that  Mr.  Crawford 
had  an  interest  in  it.  Mr.  Stephens,  in  his  speech  of  January 
13th,  1853,  on  the  Bill  to  prevent  Frauds  on  the  Treasury  of' 
the  United  States,  set  the  whole  transaction  in  its  true  light, 
after  which  no  more  was  heard  of  Galphinism. 

The  following  extract  will  show  the  spirit  of  this  speech : 

11 1  am  here  to  resist  all  party  clamor  that  may  be  brought  against  this 
claim.  What  I  have  said5/I  have  stated  for  the  House  and  the  country. 
The  facts,  as  I  have  stated,  are  uncontroverted  in  the  past,  and  will  remain 
incontrovertible  for  all  time  to  come ;  and  I  defy  their  controversies  here 
or  anywhere. 

'"  I  suppose  that  many  of  these  expressions,  such  as  '  Galphinism,'  are 
engendered  by  party  heat,  emanate  from  partisan  feeling,  and  are  used 
without  any  distinct  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  them.  But  I  say  that  the 
character  of  every  man  should  be  defended  by  those  who  love  truth  and 
justice.  The  character  of  the  humblest,  alike  with  the  character  of  the 
highest,  shall,  at  all  times,  receive  defence  from  me  when  I  can  defend  it. 
I  care  not  if  the  name  of  the  wrongful  accusers  is  Legion,  I  will  face  them 
all,  if  necessary.  I  do  not  care  to  join  with  the  shouting  multitude  merely 
because  they  are  strong  in  numbers.  I  do  not  fancy  the  taste  of  those 
who  play  upon  expressions  because  they  catch  the  popular  cant  or  whim 
of  the  day.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  pander  to  the  passions  or  prejudices 
of  the  uninformed. 

"  Sir,  this  is  the  facilis  descensus  Averni,  the  downward  road  of  the 
demagogue.  It  is  easy  to  travel  it,  and,  to  some,  it  seems  to  be  a  pleasant 
jaunt;  but  to  vindicate  the  truth,  to  stand  up  for  the  right  against  the 
majority,  hoc  opus,  Me  labor  est.  I  shall  do  it,  or  attempt  to  do  it,  sir, 
though  I  be  a  minority  of  one." 

Linton,  after  his  marriage,  removed  to  Sparta.  We  find  Alex 
ander  writing  to  him  in  May  from  Crawfordville  : 

"  If  it  were  not  for  you,  it  seems  that  this  wide  world  would  be  a  perfect 
desert  to  me.  Among  the  millions  who  inhabit  it,  no  other  congenial 
spirit  is  found  with  whom  I  can  hold  full  communion  of  thought.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  you  may  think  I  am  low-spirited.  Perhaps  it  is  so.  Have  I  not 
enough  to  make  me  so?  But  I  assure  you  that  I  do  not  feel  depressed. 
I  have  an  elasticity  of  soul  which  seems  to  bear  me  up  even  in  the  midst 
of  the  greatest  troubles  of  mind  and  body." 

On  the  9th  of  June  of  this  year  (1853)  Mr.  Stephens  met 


272  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

with  a  very  severe  accident,  which  came  near  being  a  fatal  one. 
He  was  on  his  way  to  Macon,  when  the  train  by  which  he  was 
travelling  was  thrown  from  the  track  and  wrecked.  His  right 
shoulder  blade  was  broken,  his  left  elbow  crushed,  and  his  head 
very  badly  cut,  so  that  for  a  while  it  was  thought  that  his  skull 
had  been  fractured.  This  injury  kept  him  in  the  house  all  the 
summer. 

On  July  6th,  after  disquisitions  on  the  weather  in  his  letter 
to  Linton,  we  have  some  talk  about  his  dog  Rio,  to  whom  he 
seems  to  turn,  in  his  solitude,  for  companionship. 

"•  In  all  my  strolls  from  one  room  to  another  I  have  a  constant  com 
panion, — it  is  none  other  than  llio.  The  dog  never  stuck  so  close  to  me  in 
his  life.  He  sleeps  at  my  feet  in  the  day,  and  at  night,  before  I  go  up 
stairs  to  bed.  Last  week  when  it  was  so  hot,  he  got  into  a  way  of  starting 
with  me,  but  when  I  mounted  the  first  step  of  the  stairs  he  would  throw 
himself  at  the  foot  of  it  with  a  grunt,  and  remain  there  for  an  hour  or  so, 
and  then  come  up  and  see  that  I  was  in  bed,  when  he  would  return  to  the 
cool  place.  During  the  night  he  would  repeat  his  visit  several  times.  He 
seemed  to  think  that  by  his  sleeping  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  I  could  not 
get  out  without  his  knowing  it.  ...  But,  notwithstanding  many  praise 
worthy  traits,  he  has  a  good  deal  of  the  dog  about  him.  To-day  he  de 
liberately  took  a  bone  away  from  Edmund's  dog,  Watch,  and  ate  it  up. 
That,  I  thought,  was  a  downright  doggish  trick.  I  tried  to  make  him  feel 
mean  about  it;  but  he  did  not  seem  to  comprehend  me  at  all." 

We  find  several  letters  written  during  the  summer  and  fall ; 
but  none  of  special  interest.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the 
canvass  for  Governor.  The  Constitutional  Union  movement  of 
1850,  of  which  he  had  been  the  leader,  lasted  but  two  years,  and 
in  1853  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  relapsed  into  their  old  antago 
nism.  Mr.  Jenkins*  came  forward,  however,  as  the  candidate  of 
this  party,  and  with  Mr.  Stephens,  Mr.  Toombs,  and  others  tried 
to  keep  up  the  organization.  But  the  Democrats,  with  Herschel 
Y.  Johnson  as  their  candidate  for  Governor,  fell  back  upon  their 
old  platform.  The  contest  was  warm  and  close,  resulting  in  the 
election  of  Mr.  Johnson  by  a  majority  of  about  five  hundred  votes. 
Mr.  Stephens  had  been  very  anxious  that  the  old  party  issues 


*  Hon.  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  afterwards  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
Governor. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  273 

shoulcl.be  abandoned,  and  that  Southern  men  should  stand  united 
upon  the  Georgia  platform  of  1853 ;  and  when  the  union  formed 
upon  this  basis  showed  so  little  cohesion  and  permanence,  he  lost 
still  more  of  the  little  confidence  he  had  in  the  ability  of  the 
South  to  hold  her  own  amid  the  perils  and  trials  that  were 
gathering  thickly  and  in  many  forms  about  her. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  he  had  a  very  severe  attack  of  illness, 
resembling  in  its  symptoms  that  of  1842,  and  like  that  it  re 
sulted  in  an  abscess  of  the  liver,  which  discharged  itself  through 
the  lungs.  Although  relief  followed,  the  prostration  resulting 
was  so  great  that  he  was  not  able  to  leave  his  room  during  all 
the  latter  part  of  1853  and  January,  1854. 

On  December  22d  he  writes  from  Washington : 

"  I  have  been  very  sick  since  I  wrote  to  you  last.  That  night — Mon 
day — I  was  taken  with  high  fever,  ending  in  an  attack  which  I  call  colic. 
Tuesday  1  suffered  greatly,  but  got  easy  about  three  o'clock.  Last  night 
I  had  a  return  of  high,  burning  fever,  which  lasted  all  night,  and  is  not 
off  now,  at  two  P.M.  My  pulse  is  100.  I  am  taking  quinine,  and  am  sitting 
up,  though  perhaps  I  ought  to  be  in  bed,  but  I  have  some  letters  that  I 
must  answer.  When  I  shall  write  to  you  again  I  do  not  know.  I  am 
now  getting  too  sick  to  proceed.  I  will  keep  you  advised  of  my  condition 
by  others,  if  I  cannot  write  myself.  I  am  going  to  have  a  serious  attack, 
I  feel  assured  of  that.  Withal,  my  lungs  are  badly  affected,  though  I  think 
only  sympathetically." 

The  24th  he  feels  somewhat  better,  and  writes  more  cheer 
fully  ;  and  on  Christmas,  which  is  Sunday,  writes  again : 

"A  bright,  joyous-looking  day  without.  I  am  sitting  up  a  little  to 
have  my  bed  made,  while  enjoying  the  cheerful  light  from  my  window. 
How  delicious  is  pure  light !  It  falls  upon  the  senses  like  pure  water 
upon  the  body.  It  invigorates  and  vivifies.  I  don't  wonder  at  Milton's 
apostrophe  to  light.'' 

After  mentioning  the  gravity  of  his  symptoms,  and  particu 
larly  the  exhausting  effects  of  night-sweats,  he  adds : 

"  There  is  one  thing,  however,  that  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you.  and 
that  is  an  earnest  desire  that  you  shall  not  permit  yourself  to  become 
uneasy  on  my  account,  or  suppose  that  I  suffer  from  any  apprehension. 
I  had  more  uneasiness  when  I  felt  the  first  touch  of  the  disease  than  now. 
I  have  grown  used  to  confinement,  used  to  my  room,  feel  no  restlessness 
to  be  out,  and  am  prepared  to  get  along  in  the  best  way  I  can,  without 

18 


274  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

any  heavy  care  about  it.      'Patience  is  a  great  virtue,'  some  one  has 
said.     If  this  be  true,  I  have  at  least  one  great  virtue." 

On  the  28th  he  writes  that  he  feels  better.  Has  had  two 
letters  from  Linton,  in  which  mention  is  made  of  a  Christmas 
visit  paid  to  the  latter  by  his  brother's  servant  Bob,  with  his 
wife  and  children.  In  the  answer  he  says  much  about  Bob, 
part  of  which  we  extract  to  show  the  relations  that  subsisted 
between  him  and  his  servants,  and  his  consideration  for  them. 

"  And  poor  Bob !  he  went  over  in  the  sleet  and  snow  with  his  wife  and 
little  ones.  I  fear  the  exposure  will  make  some  of  them  sick.  By  the 
way,  Bob  was  not  obnoxious  to  your  apprehension  that  he  had  made  too 
free  with  the  mules  and  buggy.  He  had  my  permission  to  make  you  the 
visit,  before  I  left.  It  was  a  darling  visit  to  Bob.  It  had  been-  near  his 
heart  all  summer.  I  suspect  he  enjoyed  it  right  well,  if  the  simple- 
hearted,  good-natured  fellow  did  not  get  drunk  ! 

"  Bob,  with  all  his  faults,  has  many  excellent  traits  of  character,  and 
some  substantial  virtues.  He  is  honest,  faithful,  and  truthful.  Just 
before  I  left  home,  he  came  up  to  town  on  Sunday,  and  stayed  with  me  all 
day.  J  was  sitting  in  the  front  parlor  alone,  reading,  when  he  came  and 
sat  or  the  steps.  He  began  to  talk  in  a  very  serious  mood  about  my 
leaving  home.  I  turned  the  subject  to  a  religious  talk.  I  asked  him 
if  he  ever  thought  what  would  become  of  him  if  he  should  die.  He  said 
yes :  that  subject  occupied  more  of  his  mind  every  day  than  all  other 
things  put  together.  I  asked  him  if  he  ever  prayed.  He  said  he  tried 
to  pray.  .  .  .  Towards  sundown  I  walked  down  to  the  back  lot  to  take 
some  exercise,  and  Bob  went  with  me.  He,  Rio,  and  I  were  the  trio. 
We  looked  at  some  young  pigs,  then  walked  through  the  apple-orchard, 
peach-orchard,  and  potato-patch,  back  to  the  house,  Bob  still  talking  and 
forgetting  to  go  home.  But  about  sundown  he  rose  with,  'AYell,  this 
won't  do  for  me;  I  must  be  gwine.  Good-by,  Mass'  Ellick.'  This  ended 
the  last  evening  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  with  Bob." 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

New  Tactics  of  the  Agitators— The  Personal  Liberty  Bills— The  Pledges  of 
1850  to  be  broken— Speech  of  February  17th— The  Nebraska  Bill— The 
Kansas  War— Death  of  Mrs.  Ray — A  Georgia  Corn-Shucking — A  Visit 
from  "  Uncle  Ben"— Speech  of  December  14th— Christmas-Eve— The 
Know-Nothing  Party. 

THE  quietude  produced  by  the  Compromise  of  1850  was,  as 
might  have  been  expected  with  such  political  elements  in  the 
country,  of  no  long  endurance.  The  party  of  agitation,  to  whom 
the  abolition  movement  was  not  an  end,  but  a  means  to  gain  their 
political  objects,  were  not  likely  to  forego  the  most  powerful 
instrument  in  their  reach  for  fostering  that  dissension  upon  which 
all  their  schemes  depended.  They  simply  changed  their  tactics 
and  their  point  of  attack.  As  for  the  time  being  they  could 
effect  nothing  in  Congress,  they  turned  their  efforts  to  inflame  the 
popular  mind  and  influence  the  local  elections.  The  point  they 
selected  for  their  operation  was  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  a  pro 
vision  for  the  return  of  fugitives  from  service  who  had  escaped 
into  other  States. 

In  their  agitation  on  this  subject  they  were  not  only  so  suc 
cessful  as  to  make  the  capture  and  return  of  a  fugitive  almost 
impossible,  the  attempt,  though  made  by  the  United  States  mar 
shal,  being  almost  invariably  resisted  by  a  mob,  but  they  induced 
several  of  the  Northern  States  to  go  much  further  in  the  path 
of  nullification  than  South  Carolina  had  gone,  whose  Ordinance 
had  never  been  put  into  execution.  These  States  passed  acts, 
called  Personal  Liberty  Bills,  which  rendered  void  the  act  of 
Congress  within  their  limits,  by  interposing  the  action  of  the 
State  courts.  The  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  that  the  act  was  constitutional,  and  that  the  States  were 
bound  to  carry  it  out,  was  met  by  denunciations  of  the  court, 
and  of  the  Constitution,  which,  in  the  quasi-religious  phraseology 
which  the  agitators  affected,  was  called  "  a  covenant  with  Hell." 

275 


27-6  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

The  subject  came  up  in  Congress  again  at  the  end  of  1853 
and  the  beginning  of  1854.  A  portion  of  the  land  ceded  by 
Louisiana,  and  not  covered  by  the  bills  providing  for  Utah  and 
New  Mexico,  was  now  in  a  condition  to  demand  a  Territorial 
"government;  and  on  the  4th  of  January  Mr.  Douglas  reported 
a  bill  in  the  Senate,  providing  for  the  organization  of  a  govern 
ment  for  Nebraska,  in  which  he  carefully  adhered  to  the  principle 
and  language  of  the  Compromise  of  1850.  This  was  the  signal 
for  a  recommencement  of  the  agitation.  The  agitators,  with  Mr. 
Sumner  at  their  head,  declared  their  intention  to  break  through 
the  Compromise  of  1850,  and  renew  to  this  Territory  the  old 
Missouri  restriction,  which  they  now  extolled  as  a  "solemn  com 
pact"  which  had  been  broken  by  perfidy ;  though  they  themselves, 
as  we  have  shown,  had  broken  it  almost  as  soon  as  it  Avas  made. 

On  the  17th  of  February,  while  this  Nebraska  Bill  was  still 
pending,  Mr.  Stephens  addressed  the  House  on  the  subject.  He 
took  issue  with  those  who  asserted  that  the  Missouri  Compromise 
was  a  "  solemn  compact,"  and  showed,  moreover,  that  even  if 
it  was  a  compact,  those  who  were  now  proclaiming  its  sacred- 
ness  were  those  who  broke  it.  He  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
slavery  agitation,  and  the  respective  positions  of  the  two  sections, 
and  of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  closing  with  an  elo 
quent  appeal  in  favor  of  constitutional  justice  as  the  only  basis  on 
which  the  happiness,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  the  country  could 
be  built  up.  This  speech,  one  of  the  most  powerful  he  ever 
delivered,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.*  What  renders  it 
more  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  the  day  before  its  delivery  Mr. 
Stephens  had,  for  the  first  time  in  two  months,  been  able  to  leave 
his  room,  and  his  appearance,  as  described  by  eye-witnesses,  was 
that  of  an  animated  corpse  with  flaming  eyes. 

On  May  9th,  Mr.  Stephens  writes  from  Washington : 

"  We  took  up  the  Nebraska  question  yesterday  by  twenty-one  majority, 
and  will  take  a  final  vote  on  it  this  week.  I  think  it  will  pass ;  but  the 
vote  will  be  closer  on  the  final  test  than  it  was  yesterday.  We  are  on  the 
eve  of  a  great  issue  with  Cuba.  England  and  France  have  set  their  heads 
against  the  policy  of  that  island  toward  us.  We  must  and  will  have  it; 

*  Appendix  A. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.,  277 

and  we  cannot  permit  them  to  go  on  with  their  policy  of  filling  it  with 
Africans." 

May  llth. — "  We  have  had  no  vote  on  Nebraska  yet.  How  long  we 
shall  be  occupied  with  preliminary  questions  I  cannot  tell ;  but  if  I  had 
my  way,  not  one  minute.  I  want  to  move  to  strike  out  the  enacting  clause, 
which  will  cut  off  amendments.  The  friends  of  the  bill  could  carry  this 
motion  ;  then  the  Committee  would  rise,  the  House  would  disagree  to  their 
report  and  pass  the  bill  under  the  previous  question,  if  we  have  the 
majority.  That  is  my  plan  of  tactics  ;  but  I  have  not  yet  got  the  leaders 
to  agree  to  it.  I  am  getting  tired  of  their  vacillating,  timid,  foolish  policy. 
...  I  am  getting  chafed  in  spirit  at  the  thought  of  following  the  lead  of 
such  men.  I  am  growing  insubordinate,  and  losing  my  self-respect.  If 
I  had  not  come  here,  I  verily  believe  that  they  would  not  have  got  the 
question  up -"  [The  remainder  of  this  letter  has  been  lost.] 

May  23d. — "  Nebraska  is  through  the  House, — majority  thirteen.  Eight 
Southern  men  in  the  negative  ;  all  Whigs  except  Benton.  I  took  the  reins 
in  my  hand,  applied  whip  and  spur,  and  brought  the  '  wagon'  out  at  eleven 
o'clock  P.M.  Glory  enough  for  one  day.  I  will  soon  send  you  some  inci 
dents  of  the  fight." 

The  passage  of  the  Nebraska  Bill — which  included  a  provision 
for  the  formation  of  a  Territorial  government  in  Kansas  also — 
again  changed  the  tactics  of  the  party  of  agitation.  Framed  in 
accordance  with  the  policy  of  the  Compromise  of  1850,  it  opened 
these  Territories  to  settlers  from  all  the  States,  and  to  their 
property,  without  restriction  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and 
allowed  the  settlers  to  regulate  their  own  affairs,  with  no  other 
limitations  than  those  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The 
agitators  began  at  once  to  organize  "  Emigrant  Aid  Societies"  in 
the  North,  for  the  purpose  of  sending  out  bands  of  armed  men, 
not  peaceable  emigrants,  whose  object  was,  not  to  settle  and  culti 
vate  the  soil,  but  to  get  the  power  into  their  hands,  by  violence 
and  intimidation,  if  necessary.  Resistance  was  offered,  of  course, 
and  the  series  of  disturbances  known  as  the  "  Kansas  War" 
followed. 

We  have  no  letters  now  until  June  6th.  Mr.  Stephens  has  been 
at  home  for  a  few  days,  and  is  about  returning  to  Washington. 

"Yesterday  I  spent  down  on  the  plantation.  I  walked  all  over  the  old 
place,  '  solitary  and  alone.'  With  feelings  of  deep  sadness  I  surveyed  many 
a  spot  sacred  in  memory.  .  .  .  Harry  will  take  this  on  to  you  to-morrow, 
and  will  also  take  Rio.  Poor  dog !  he  has  stuck  to  me  this  time  as  close 
as  a  brother." 


278  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

June  15th. — He  writes  from  Washington  : 

"  The  public  news  here  is  of  little  importance.  The  Administration  is 
vacillating  about  Cuba.  I  do  not  now  believe  that  they  intend  to  do  any 
thing  favoring  the  acquisition,  and  I  doubt  if  they  have  the  nerve  to  make 
the  treaty  with  Dominica.  They  are  not  worth  shucks." 

In  this  month  he  was  afflicted  by  the  loss  of  Mrs.  Thomas 
Ray, — "  Cousin  Sabra," — a  lady  very  dear  to  him,  of  whom  we 
have  had  several  notices  in  the  account  of  his  early  years.  She 
was  a  woman  of  very  exemplary  character,  much  beloved  by  the 
small  circle  who  knew  her.  Mr.  Stephens,  who  was  keenly 
sensitive  to  every  loss  of  this  kind,  mourned  her  long  and  deeply. 
He  writes  from  Crawfordville  on  July  6th : 

"  I  have  not  yet  been  to  my  plantation.  I  scarcely  know  how  I  can  go 
there.  It  seems  my  heart  would  fail  me.  The  last  day  I  was  there  I  went 
all  over  the  place, — to  the  grave-yard,  where  I  spent  some  time  in  lonely 
musing.  Little  did  I  then  think  that  another  one  so  dear  to  me  was  so 
soon  to  be  laid  away  in  that  quiet  repository  of  the  dead." 

Several  letters  in  August  refer  to  the  death  of  his  brother's 
infant  daughter,  and  are  full  of  sympathy  and  consolation.  In 
the  fall  the  correspondence  assumes  a  more  cheerful  tone,  though 
he  was  troubled  with  an  attack  of  intermittent  fever.  On 
October  27th  he  writes : 

.  .  .  "Last  night  I  had  a  corn-shucking.  About  thirty  or  forty  negroes 
assembled,  shucked  out  all  the  pile,  and  after  that,  according  to  custom, 
claimed  the  right  of  carrying  me,  the  boss,  about  over  the  yard  and  through 
the  house,  singing  and  cutting  all  sorts  of  capers.  I  thought  discretion 
was  the  better  part  of  valor,  and  did  not  resist  the  'toting'  custom.  The- 
sport  seemed  to  amuse  the  negroes  very  much,  and  when  they  had  got 
their  hands  in  with  me,  they  took  brother  John  and  John  Tilly  and  car 
ried  them  both  through  the  rocking  and  tossing  process.  This  sport,  as 
you  may  know,  is  like  that  which  Sancho  Pansa  fell  in  with  once.  They 
put  their  victim  in  a  chair,  and  then  swing  him  to  and  fro  in  the  air 
as  high  as  their  long  arms  will  permit." 

Rio  came  upon  the  scene  during  these  extraordinary  proceed 
ings.  "  Poor  fellow,  he  could  not  understand  it,  and  was  for  a 
fight;  but  the  odds  were  too  great  against  him."  The  frolic 
closes  with  a  grand  supper.  These  old-time  corn-huskings 
and  other  harmless  merry-makings  in  which  the  negroes  took 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  279 

such  delight  are  now  things  of  the  past.  With  their  new-found 
liberty  they  seem  to  have  lost  the  faculty  of  innocent  enjoyment. 
Displaced  from  a  position  for  which  they  were  especially  fitted 
by  nature,  they  have  not  yet  become  adapted  to  the  new  order 
of  things,  and  will  probably  be,  for  a  generation  at  least,  a 
grotesque  and  unhappy  solecism  in  society. 

Next  month  Mr.  Stephens,  though  still  sick,  went  to  Colum 
bus  to  try  a  case  in  the  court  then  in  session,  and  was  taken 
much  worse.  This  has  been  an  unfortunate  case  for  him,  and 
this  is  the  third  time  he  has  gone  to  Columbus  to  try  it.  The 
first  time  the  clerk  of  the  court  died;  the  second  time  the  cars 
ran  off  the  track,  as  we  have  seen,  and  he  was  badly  hurt ;  and 
now  he  is  stricken  down  with  the  dysentery.  Happily,  the 
severity  of  the  attack  was  not  of  long  duration. 

November  16th. — Linton  has  been  writing  with  some  indigna 
tion  of  the  behavior  of  a  certain  preacher,  and  his  brother  gives 
him  a  caution. 

11 1  beg  you  not  to  let  such  conduct  have  an  evil  influence  upon  your 
mind.  I  have  been  in  just  such  a  condition  as  you  describe,  and  I  came 
near  being  shipwrecked  in  religious  feeling  once  by  the  impertinence 
of  just  such  a  man.  .  .  .  Cultivate  your  religious  feelings.  Be  humble  in 
spirit  and  look  to  heaven  for  guidance.  Don't  suffer  yourself  to  become 
cold  on  this  subject.  I  feel  as  if  I  should  not  live  long,  and  I  assure  you 
that  the  older  I  get,  the  greater  is  my  submission  to  the  will  of  my 
heavenly  Father.  The  life  of  a  religious  man  is  beautiful  to  contemplate, 
and  his  end  is  one  that  angels  might  envy." 

November  24th. — "  Uncle  Ben,"  an  old  family  negro  servant, 
is  paying  him  a  visit. 

"  I  saw  Ben  at  the  plantation  to-day.  lie  looked  sad.  He  had  been  all 
over  the  old  stamping-  and  hunting-grounds.  In  vain  had  he  looked  for 
the  old  persimmon-tree.  Perkins  (the  former  owner)  had  cut  it  down. 
Ben  cried  when  he  talked  about  the  grave-yard  to-day.  lie  said,  '  When 
Missis  planted  that  cedar-tree  at  the  children's  graves,  she  told  me  if  I 
should  live  the  longest  to  take  care  of  it ;  but  many  has  been  the  year 
since  I  saw  it.  When  I  went  to  Upson  County  it  was  a  little  bit  of  a 
bush  5  now  it  looks  like  an  old  tree.  Mass'  Grier  planted  the  poplar.  He 
just  cut  a  twig  and  stuck  it  in  the  ground,  and  it  grew.  Now  the  tree  has 
grown  up,  lived  out  its  life,  and  is  dead.'  I  almost  cried  to  hear  Ben  talk." 

November  26th. — Another  visit  to  the  plantation  with  Ben. 


280  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

.  .  .  "When  I  got  to  the  grave-yard  I  found  Ben,  as  Old  Mortality, 
gazing  on  brother's  tombstone  trying  to  read  the  inscription.  We  re 
mained  about  the  sacred  spot  for  some  time.  When  we  were  about  start 
ing  he  said  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and  faltering  voice  that  he  wanted  me 
to  get  Mass'  John  to  let  him  come  back  and  stay  on  the  old  place.  He 
wanted  to  live  there  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  when  he  died  to  be  buried  with 
the  rest.  I  answered  that  I  would  see  about  it." 

He  did  see  about  it,  and  Uncle  Ben  had  his  wish  granted. 
Mr.  Stephens  returned  to  Washington  on  the  1st  of  December. 
On  the  4th  he  writes : 

11  Congress  met  to-day.  Everything  is  flat.  Nobody  cared  a  cent  for 
the  Message  or  anything  else.  I  don't  believe  that  the  tide  of  popular 
feeling  or  popular  interest  in  public  affairs  ever  ran  so  low  as  at  present 
in  this  or  any  other  free  country." 

His  health  continues  bad,  and  at  times  he  is  confined  to  his 
room,  but  there  is  no  intermission  in  his  letters,  for  he  finds  it, 
he  says,  "  easier  to  write  than  not  to  write." 

On  the  14th  of  December  he  made  a  speech  in  the  House 
in  answer  to  Mr.  Mace,  of  Indiana,  who  had  announced  the 
determination  of  himself  and  his  party  to  vote  for  the  repeal 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  on  the  ground  that  this  measure 
was  condemned  by  the  people,  and  had  given  notice  of  his 
intention  to  introduce  a  bill  to  prohibit  slavery  in  those  Terri 
tories.  After  showing  that  the  local  elections  throughout  the 
States  gave  a  very  different  testimony,  Mr.  Stephens  thus  meets 
the  allegation  that  the  South  had  been  in  the  habit  of  claim 
ing  and  extorting  more  than  her  just  rights  from  the  Federal 
Government : 

"  But  the  gentleman  says  that  when  Southern  men's  measures  are  vetoed, 
they  raise  their  voices  in  tones  of  thunder  until  they  carry  them.  Sir,  I 
do  not  believe  there  ever  was  a  Southern  measure  vetoed.  I  do  not  recol 
lect  one.  The  South  has  never  asked  anything  from  your  Government 
that  called  for  a  veto.  There  is  the  difference  between  us.  The  South 
asks  but  few  favors  from  you.  It  is  a  class  of  gentlemen  from  the  North 
who  ask  aid  from  the  Government.  Why,  we  never  come  here  in  that 
attitude.  Let  me  ask  the  gentleman  when  any  measure  from  the  South 
was  ever  vetoed  ?  when  the  South  ever  asked  anything  that  required  the 
exercise  of  the  veto  power  ? 
f"  But  the  gentleman  said  that  he  admired  the  South,  because  '  knowing 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  231 

/  their  rights,  they  dared  maintain  them.'  That  I  take  as  a  compliment. 
And  now,  what  is  his  position?  Why  the  South,  'knowing  their  rights, 
and  daring  to  maintain  them,'  lie  would  have  the  North  rise  up  and  pre 
vent  her  from  getting  her  known  and  acknowledged  rights !  If  we  know 
our  rights,  and  they  are  our  rights,  and  we  dare  maintain  them,  why  ought 
not  the  North, — why  ought  not  the  gentleman  (I  will  not  say  the  North)  to 
grant  us  our  rights?  Have  we  ever  asked  anything  but  what  was  right? 
Now  I  say,  with  all  due  respect  to  the  gentleman,  that  the  true  position 
of  the  South  is  this  :  we  la§k  nothing  but  what  is  right,  and  we  submit 
to  nothing  that  is  wrong.'  That  is  the  position  that  the  South  has  always 
occupied,  as  I  remember  her  history. 

"Now,  sir,  upon  the  subject  of  internal  improvements  which  the  gentle 
man  alluded  to,  has  the  South  ever  asked  legislative  aid  in  that  particu 
lar  ?  I  do  not  speak  now  sectionally,  or  against  the  North ;  but  look  at 
the  whole  history  of  our  Government.  Who  is  it  that  is  constantly  ap 
pealing  here  for  legislative  aid  and  legislative  patronage  ?  Who  ask  for 
fishing  bounties?  Who  ask  for  protection  to  navigation?  Why,  the 
people  of  the  South,  if  they  were  permitted  to  use  or  employ  foreign 
vessels  in  their  coast  trade,  would  be  greatly  benefited  thereby.  But 
American  shipping  must  be  protected ;  and  who  is  it  that  asks  that  pro 
tection,  not  only  upon  shipping,  but  almost  everything  else?  Who  is  it 
that  wants  a  duty  on  coal?  Who  upon  iron?  Who  upon  woollen  goods? 
Who  upon  shoes,  leather,  cotton  fabrics, — everything?  Why,  the  indus 
trial  interests  of  the  North.  We  of  the  South,  it  is  true,  sometimes 
grumble  and  complain  ;  but  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  South 
have  yielded  to  what  they  consider  in  some  instances  very  heavy  exac 
tions  for  the  support  of  Government.  But  when  did  we  ever  come  up  and 
ask  any  aid  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States?  The  constant 
r  prayer  of  the  South  to  you  has  been  to  stay  your  hands.  All  that  we  ask 
/  of  you  is, — keep  your  hands  out  of  our  pockets.  That  is  all  that  the  South 
,  asks,  and  we  do  not  get  even  that.  It  is  true,  sir,  that  in  my  own  State 
we  have  asked  some  little  favors,  but  very  few.  Some  years  ago  we  asked 
that  you  should  take  the  obstructions  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah 
River, — not  obstructions  that  nature  put  there,  but  that  were  put  there 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  to  keep  out  a  foreign  fleet, — put  there  not 
by  the  citizens  of  the  State,  but  by  public  authority.  It  seems  to  us  no 
thing  but  right  and  just  that  the  General  Government  should  remove  those 
obstructions;  but  we  have  asked  in  vain  for  that.  The  gentleman  says 
that  the  Representatives  of  the  North  come  here  and  pass  River  and 
Harbor  Bills,  which  are  vetoed,  and  the  wishes  of  their  constituents  are 
thereby  defeated.  Well,  sir,  we  have  some  rivers  in  the  South  quite  as 
navigable  as  those  in  Indiana-,  but  when  did  Georgia,  or  South  Carolina, 
or  Virginia,  or  the  South  generally,  come  and  ask  Congress  to  clear  out 
those  rivers?  .  .  . 

"  In  the  State  of  Georgia  we  have  never  asked  for  any  harbor  improve- 


282  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

ments  except  for  the  removal  of  those  obstructions  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  River  ;  and  we  never  got  that,  as  I  have  stated.  We  never  asked 
the  General  Government  to  clear  out  our  rivers.  But  we  have  a  country 
of  hill  and  valley,  and  we  have  to  go  to  market  with  our  products, — for 
we  grow  some  things  in  Georgia,  notwithstanding  that,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  gentleman  from  Indiana,  we  are  a  heaven-accursed,  slavery-doomed 
land, — we  grow  some  products  in  Georgia,  I  say.  for  market ;  and  how  do 
we  get  them  to  market?  Do  we  come  here  and  ask  aid  of  the  General 
Government?  No,  sir.  Why,  in  my  State,  we  have  now  upward  of  a 
thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  full  operation.  How  did  we  obtain  it?  We 
took  our  surplus  capital,  and  with  it  we  bought  human  labor,  human  en 
ergy,  bone  and  sinew, — we  bought  the  strong  arms  of  our  own  citizens  as 
well  as  of  foreigners,  to  come  and  dig  down  the  hills  and  fill  up  the  valleys, 
and  lay  down  the  superstructure  of  our  railroads, — we  bought  the  iron,  when 
we  could  get  it,  in  this  country,  and  we  went  abroad  for  it  when  we  could 
not  get  it  here  ;  and  notwithstanding  all  that,  when  we  brought  our  iron 
into  this  country,  we  had  to  pay  duty  upon  it  to  the  General  Government. 
Twenty  millions  of  dollars  have  been  spent  in  Georgia  in  constructing 
highways  to  our  markets.  That  is  the  way  we  got  our  thousand  miles 
of  railroad.  So  far  from  coming  here  and  receiving  assistance  from  Gov 
ernment,  we  have  actually  had  to  pay  a  tax  for  the  privilege  of  bringing 
our  iron  into  the  country.  Georgia  has  paid  not  less  than  a  million  and 
a  half  of  dollars  as  a  duty  on  iron  into  the  treasury  for  the  privilege  of 
building  her  own  works  of  internal  improvement.  Now  I  would  ask  any 
candid  man — I  would  ask  the  gentleman  himself — if  it  is  just,  not  only 
to  tax  Georgia  for  the  privilege  of  constructing  her  highways,  but  then  to 
take  those  very  taxes  that  we  have  paid  to  open  rivers  in  Indiana?  It  does 
not  strike  me  that  it  is  very  just." 

After  defending  the  principle  established  by  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  that  the  people  of  each  State  and  of  each  Territory  on 
forming  a  State  constitution  should  determine  for  themselves 
whether  they  would  or  would  not  admit  the  institution  of 
slavery,  he  then  touches  the  main  question  : 

"  Why  is  it  that  gentlemen  object  so  much  to  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  Kansas,  if  the  people  of  that  Territory  desire  it  to  go  there?  When  I 
made  a  speech  at  the  last  session  upon  this  subject,  I  stated  that  I  would 
vote  for  the  principle  of  allowing  the  people  of  any  section  of  the  country 
to  come  into  the  Union  and  form  institutions  as  they  please.  This  I  said 
when  I  knew  there  might  be  twice  as  many  people  there  from  the  North 
as  from  the  South,  and  the  chances  of  emigration  I  knew  would  greatly 
preponderate  in  favor  of  the  North.  I  am  willing,  now,  to  abide  by  that 
principle.  I  have  no  desire  to  deprive  the  people  of  any  State  or  Territory, 
in  our  common  country,  of  the  right  of  adopting  such  institutions  for  their 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  283 

government,  when  they  become  States,  as  they  please.  It  is  anti-Ameri 
can,  and  entirely  at  war  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  about  which  we  hear 
so  much.  I  ask  why  the  people  of  any  section  of  the  country  should  be 
prevented  from  adopting  the  institutions  of  the  South,  if  they  wish  them  ? 
SofiiaUy^jnorally,  or  politically^^  in  any  respect  of  the  question,  is  there 
any  reason  for  depriving  them  of  that  right?  Is  it  for  the  sake  of  hu 
manity  that  gentlemen  are  not  willing  for  the  people  of  Kansas  to  assign 
"fine  African  the  same  condition  there  that  he  occupies  in  the  South,  if  they 
think  it  best  to  do  so?  Are  gentlemen  willing  to  degrade  their  own  race 
by  not  permitting  them  to  vote  upon  matters  relating  to  their  own  Govern 
ment,  while  they  are  endeavoring  to  elevate  the  negro  to  the  standard  of 
(jthe  white  man  ?  Youjnay  degrade  the  white  man,  but  you  cannot  raise 
the  negro  to  the  level  you  purpose.  It  is  impossible.  You  have  to  reverse 
a  law  of  nature  first.  Men  may  indulge  in  philanthropic  speculations  as 
muclT"as  they  please,  but  here  is  the  great  immutable  law  of  nature,  and 
they  cannot  avoid  it.  I.auLnjot  here  to  argue  •wh-ether'decrercs  of  "the  Most 
tli2h_are._r[ghtj  wise,  and  just.  sChere  is  a  difference,  a  vast  difference, 
established  by  the  Creator  between  the  different  races  of  menj  For  myself, 
I  believe  that  He  who  made  all  is  just,  and  that  He  made  the  white  man  as 
He  made  him,  and  that  He  maole  the  negro  as  He  made  him — for  wise  and 
just  purposes.  Some  vessels  are  made  for  honor,  and  some  for  dishonor] 
one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  magnitude  as  well  as  brilliancy.  Q 
believe,  too,  that  the  system  of  government,  as  adopted  by  the  South,  de 
fining  the  status  or  relation  of  these  two  races,  is  the  best  for  both  of  them ; 
and  I  am  prepared  to  argue  that  question  with  the  gentleman,  here  or  any 
where.  Take  the  negroes  in  Indiana,  take  them  in  the  North  generally, 
and  compare  their  condition  with  those  of  the  South.  Take  them  in  Africa, 
take  them  anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  habitable  globe  ;  and  then  take  them 
in  the  Southern  States(jmd  the  negro  population  of  the  South  is  better  off, 
better  fed,  better  clothed,  better  provided  for,  enjoy  more  happiness,  and  a 
higher  civilization,  than  the  same  race  has  ever  enjoyed  anywhere  else  on 
the  face  of  the  world.  Gould  Howard  the  philanthropist,  who  has  left  an 
undying  fame  for  his  deeds  of  humanity,  have  taken  the  same  number  of 
Africans  from  their  native  country  and  raised  them  from  their  barbarous 
condition  to  that  of  the  slaves  of  the  South,  he  would  have  added  much 
to  that  statue  of  immortality  which,  in  his  day,  he  erected  to  himself.  It 
would  have  grea.tly  added  to  that  reputation  which  now  sanctifies  his 
memory  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  mankind.' 

After  comparing  the  condition  of  the  slaves  at  the  South  with 
that  of  the  free  blacks  at  the  North,  he  continues : 

"  But  some  people  say  that  slavery  is  a  curse  to  the  white  man.  They 
abandon  the  idea  that  it  is  a  curse  to  the  negro.  They  say  it  weakens, 
impoverishes,  and  demoralizes  a  State.  Let  us  see.  They  say  there  can 


284  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

be  no  high  social,  moral,  or  material  development  under  the  institution 
of  slavery.  I  have  before  me  some  statistics  on  this  point, — statistics 
relating  to  material  development.  But,  before  alluding  to  them,  I  will 
say,  upon  the  subject  of  morals,  that  I  saw  a  table  of  crimes  made  out  in 
the  census  office  for  1850.  From  those  statistics  it  appeared — I  speak 
from  memory — that  the  number  of  convictions  for  crimes  of  every  grade 
in  Massachusetts,  the  'land  of  steady  habits,'  and  where  we  hear  so  much 
of  the  immoral  effects  of  slavery,  with  a  population  under  one  million,  was 
several  thousand  ;  while  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  with  a  population  about 
as  great,  the  similar  convictions  are  less  than  one  hundred.  I  say  then, 
upon  the  score  of  crime,  upon  the  score  of  morals,  I  am  ready  to  compare 
my  State  with  Massachusetts,  or  any  one  of  the  free  States.  Where,  then, 
is  the  moral  curse  which  arises  from  slavery?" 

He  then  turns  to  the  question  of  material  development,  and 
refutes  the  assertion  that  slavery  impoverishes  a  State  by  a  com 
parison  of  the  staple  products  of  Georgia  and  Ohio.  Ohio  had, 
by  the  census,  nearly  one-third  more  land  under  improvement 
than  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  this  land  was  valued  at  more 
than  three  times  the  value  of  the  Georgia  lands.  Her  popula 
tion  was  more  than  double  that  of  Georgia.  Yet  the  compari 
son  of  products  showed  that  those  of  Georgia  were  worth  about 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  more  than  those  of  Ohio !  This 
whole  speech  made  a  great  impression,  and  led  to  an  animated 
debate  with  Mr.  Campbell,  of  Ohio,  next  year. 

We  now  return  to  the  correspondence. 

December  23d. — "  I  have  been  so  pressed  with  business,  and  so  unwell 
withal  under  my  pressure,  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  write  you.  It  seems 
to  me  that  my  labors  here  increase  with  my  length  of  service.  I  am  worn 
down  and  nearly  worn  out,  and  yet  I  keep  up  at  work  until  eleven  o'clock 
every  night.  I  believe  I  never  stood  so  high  in  public  estimation  here  as 
I  now  do,  and  this  is  what  puts  so  much  business  on  me.  My  position 
on  the  Ways  and  Means  makes  it  necessary  for  me  to  see  a  great  many 
persons  and  look  into  a  great  many  matters." 

December  24th. — The  date  of  this  letter  warns  us  to  expect  the 
usual  gloom,  which  does  not  fail  to  find  expression. 

"  It  is  Sunday  and  Christmas-eve.  I  am  not  exactly  alone,  but  lonely 
in  feeling.  About  me  I  have  company  in  abundance,  but  my  mind  wan 
ders  to  persons  and  scenes  far  distant.  The  closing  year  always  fills  me 
with  sadness.  At  least  it  has  done  so  ever  since  our  family  was  dispersed, 
when  I  was  but  a  boy.  Before  that  painful  crisis  in  my  life  Christinas  was 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  285 

a  joyous  time.  Its  coming  was  looked  to  for  weeks  as  a  period  of  jubilee. 
Never  has  it  been  so  with  me  since  I  left  the  old  homestead  and  fireside 
lighted  up  with  a  father's  smile.  To-day,  I  know  not  why,  I  feel  particu 
larly  melancholy  on  the  return  of  that  season  which  to  all  others  is  usu 
ally  the  season  of  festivity.  Perhaps  the  dreariness  of  the  day  adds  some 
weight  to  the  depression  of  my  spirits.  At  any  rate,  so  it  is ;  the  very 
signals  of  joy  that  others  are  firing  sound  in  my  ears  like  minute-guns  at 
sea. 

"  Shall  I  ever  see  another  Christmas-eve  ?  Why  should  I  wish  it?  Life 
to  me  is  desolate.  For  what  object  should  I  wish  to  live  ?  As  to  myself, 
I  assure  you  I  have  none.  YeJ:  to  the  world  I  am  by  no  means  rnisan-' 
throjiic,  w_iiile-th.ei£-ar£  cords  which  bind  jMeJio_a_j:]ejvj[^^ 
nerves  of  life.  But  what  can  my  longer  stay  on  this  theatre  do  for  them? 
[Will  it_jiat--kerif  such  a  future  is  in  store  for  me,  but  a  prolongation  of 
painful  anxiety  and  miserable  solicitude  for  their  welfare,  without  any 
ability  to  shape,  much  less  to  control,  their  destiny  ?f  These  you  may  look 
upon  as  gloomy  reflections.  They  are.  I  am  utterly  enveloped  in  gloom. 
Shadows. surround  me  and  thick  darkness  seems  coming  over  me.  My  life 
is  burdened  with  the  discharge  of  duties  heavy  and  onerous.  Among  these 
duties  none^  oppress  me  more  than  the  ordinary  civilities  and  courtesies 
of  life.  /JJjnean  tne  entertainment  of  those  whom  I  meet,  so  as  to  render 
them  as  happy  as  I  can  without  making  known  to  them  by  word  or  look 
the  '  aching  void'  within. /-This  I  consider  a  duty,  but  it  requires  a  great 
effort  to  perform  it.  It  is  a  legitimate  tax  to  society  which  every  member 
ought  to  pay.  ...  It  is  often  a  matter  of  thought  and  reflection  to  me, 
when  friends  have  left  my  room  whomflhave  kept  in  a  roar  of  laughter, 
how  little  do  they  know  of  the  miserableness  of  one  who  appeared  to  be  in 
such  spirits./  Then  comes  the  self-inquiry, ^Am  I  indeed  a  hypocrite? — of 
all_jjharacters_to  me  thejnost  detestable.  I  think  not.  A  man  is  under 
no  more  obligation  to  expose  his  griefs  than  to  exhibit  his  bruises  and 
sores.  These  should  be  shown"  to  only  the  trusted  few  who  have  access  to 
"tlie  inner  shrine  of  his  heart.  £jTo_  this  shrine,  with  me,  but  one  living 
being  upon  earth  was  ever  admitted,  and  that  one  is  yourself.  If  I  had 
not  one  at  least  with  whom  I  thus  could  communicate,  it  appears  to  me  that 
life  would  become  intolerable^  Do  you  ask,  then,  why  I  am  thus  miserable? 
It  is  because  I  meet  with  little  sympathy  from  the  world.  Even  the  praise 
of  those  who  approve,  from  whatever  motive  given,  is  often,  indeed  most 
frequently  offered,  in  a  manner  which  is  gall  and  wormwood  to  me.  My 
life  has  been  a  warfare  from  the  beginning.  My  strife  kasLbppn  with  fn-f-P--- 
The  contest  began  in  the  cradle  and  will  encTonly  in  the  grave.  Weak 
and  sickly,  I  was  sent  into  the  world  with  a  constitution  barely  able  to 
sustain  the  vital  functions.  Health  I  have  never  known  and  do  not  expect 
to  know.  But  this  I  could  bear :  pain  I  can  endure  ;  I  am  used  to  it. 
Physical  sufferings  are  not  the  worst  ills  I  am  heir  to.  I  find  no  unison 
of  feelings,  tastes,  and  sentiments  with  the  world.  ...  I  feel  myself  to  be 


286  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

alone  ;  and  feel  that  my  habitation  should  be  in  solitude.  But  do  not 
think  that  I  cower  before  fate.  No ;  to  my  destiny  I  bow,  submissively 
bow  to  that  which  is  beyond  my  control.  I  yield  to  nothing  else.  And 
even  in  solitude  I  feel  that  spirit  within  me  which  would  enable  me,  so  far 
from  sinking  into  despair,  to  drink  to  the  very  dregs  the  bitterest  cup  that 
time  can  measure  out,  and  looking  up,  ask  for  more." 

Other  letters  refer  to  the  Know-No  thing  party,  then  just 
coming  into  notice.  Not  being  informed  of  their  policy,  he 
suspends  his  judgment  about  them,  except  that  he  is  opposed  to 
all. secret  organizations  in  a  Republic,  "  where,"  he  says,  "every 
man  ought  to  have  his  principles  written  on  his  forehead." 

December  31st. — A  letter  in  the  usual  style  for  this  season. 
He  digresses,  however,  into  politics  a  little. 

il  Public  sentiment  in  this  country  is  in  a  transition  state,-  so  far  as  the 
principle  of  party  organization  is  concerned.  Old  parties,  old  names,  old 
issues,  and  old  organizations  are  passing  away.  A  day  of  new  things, 
new  issues,  new  leaders,  and  new  organizations  is  at  hand.  The  men  now 
in  power,  holding  their  places  by  the  foulest  coalition  known  in  our  his 
tory,  seem  not  to  foresee  that  doom  which  evidently  awaits  them.  Stand 
ing  upon  no  policy  but  the  division  of  the  spoils,  their  time  is  taken  up  in 
revelry  and  riotous  living  out  of  the  public  treasury.  But  like  Belshaz- 
zar  at  the  feast,  they  have  the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  whether  they  can 
read  it  or  not." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  Complimentary  Dinner— Keply  to  Mr.  Campbell— Letter  on  Know- 
Nothingism — Becomes  a  Candidate  for  Re-Election — Speech  at  Augusta 
— Linton's  Nomination — The  Campaign — Mr.  Stephens  elected — Dead- 
Lock  in  the  House — Advice  to  the  President. 

THE  first  day  of  1855  is  greeted  with  a  long  letter,  full  of 
good  wishes  and  good  counsel  to  his  brother.  On  the  4th  of 
January  he  writes  again,  and  gives  an  account  of  a  little  merry 
making  the  day  before. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Toombs  and  myself  gave  Mr.*  and  Mrs.  Dawson  a  sort 
of  bridal  or  complimentary  dinner.  We  had  thirteen  persons  at  table 
besides  ourselves.  The  company  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dawson, 
Governor  and  Mrs.  Pratt,  Governor  and  Mrs.  Brown,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Badger,  Mr.  Hilliard,  of  Alabama,  Dr.  Ileese,  of  Georgia,  Colonel  liar- 
dee,  U.  S.  A.,  Judge  Wayne,  and  Mr.  Pearce,  of  Maryland.  The  dinner 
was  a  splendid  one, — one  of  the  best  I  ever  saw  served  in  Washington." 

After  describing  the  arrangements  and  menu,  the  order  of  the 
guests,  etc.,  he  speaks  of  the  conversation  at  table. 

"We  had  one  pass  that  made  a  roar  of  laughter  in  which  all  joined. 
Badger  proposed  to  drink  my  health.  He  was  at  the  farther  end  of  the 
table,  so  that  all  heard  him.  He  began  by  saying  that  when  La  Fayette 
visited  this  country,  he  inquired  of  some  one  who  was  presented  to  him 
if  he  was  married.  The  gentleman  answered  that  he  was.  '  Happy  man  !J 
replied  the  old  general.  The  next  one  coming  up  was  asked  the  same 
question,  and  the  answer  was  '  No.'  '  Lucky  dog !'  exclaimed  La  Fayette. 
Badger  then  drank  to  me  as  the  '  lucky  dog.'  When  all  had  emptied  their 
glasses,  I  said  that  La  Fayette  had  shown  great  tact  in  getting  out  of  a 
scrape  ;  greater,  I  feared,  than  I  should  show.  But,  as  I  knew  nothing 
of  the  mysteries  of  the  '  happy  man's'  case,  I  could  only  reply  in  the  lan 
guage  of  a  Western  lawyer  I  once  heard  of,  who  concluded  his  argument 
by  saying,  ;  May  it  please  your  Honor,  I  know  nothing  of  the  mysteries 


*  Hon.  Wm.  C.  Dawson,  Senator  from  Georgia,  who  had  just  married 
his  second  wife. 

287 


288  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

of  the  law  of  this  case,  and  my  only  reliance  is  to  trust  to  the  sublimity 
of  luck,  and  float  on  the  surface  of  the  occasion.'  All  laughed  heartily 
and  agreed  that  I  had  got  off  very  well." 

Mr.  Campbell,  of  Ohio,  had  replied  to  Mr.  Stephens's  speech 
of  December  14th,  directing  his  reply  especially  to  the  assertion 
that  the  South  had  asked  and  received  few,  if  any,  favors  at 
the  hands  of  the  General  Government,  and  to  the  comparisons 
which  Mr.  Stephens  drew  between  the  products  of  Ohio  and 
Georgia.  To  certain  parts  of  Mr.  Campbell's  remarks  Mr. 
Stephens  made  some  reply  at  the  time,  but  when  the  speech, 
considerably  amplified  and  revised,  had  appeared  in  type,  he 
took  occasion,  as  we  shall  see,  to  answer  it  thoroughly.  To  the 
first  part  of  this  debate  the  next  letter  refers. 

January  6th. — ''You  are  right  in  your  opinion  as  to  my  reason  for  not 
answering  Campbell's  question,  'has  Congress  the  power  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  a  Territory  ?'  My  apprehension  is  that  if  they  were  to  do  it, 
the  Supreme  Court  would  hold  it  to  be  misconstitutional.  Hence  I  always 
fought  the  Wilinot  Proviso,  because  I  thought  there  was  something  in  it. 
But  I  believe  that  the  exercise  of  such  power  on  the  principle  and  with  a 
view  to  the  total  exclusion  of  the  South  from  a  participation  in  the  Terri 
tories  would  be  a  gross  abuse  of  power,  such  as  would  justify  revolution. 
If  I  had  denied  the  power,  as  he  expected  I  would  and  hoped  I  would, 
then  his  object  was  to  show  that  I  had  voted  for  the  extension  of  the 
Missouri  line,  which  vote  sanctioned  the  exercise  of  this  power  north  of 
36°  30X.  That  is  an  inconsistency  I  have  never  yet  committed.  I  regret 
that  it  has  been  committed  by  so  many  Southern  men.  Calhoun  denied 
the  power,  yet  was  for  the  compromise  line ;  and  the  same  position  is 
taken  by  the  whole  fire-eating  crowd.  ...  I  have  been  endeavoring  for 
some  days  to  get  the  floor  in  order  to  come  back  on  Campbell  on  his  sta 
tistics.  All  of  them  have  been  compiled  since  he  spoke.  Not  one  word 
of  them  was  uttered  in  his  spoken  speech.  He  was  more  than  a -week 
writing  it  out." 

January  Sth. — This  is  another  of  his  black  days. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  but  for  an  effort  that  no  other  mortal  upon  earth 
would  make,  I  should  sink  into  profound  indifference  to  all  things  con 
nected  with  men  and  their  affairs.  But  with  that  effort  that  I  daily  exert, 
to  the  persons  about  me  I  appear,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  be  one  of  the  most 
cheerful  and  happy  men  upon  earth.  I  dined  on  Saturday  at  Preston's.* 
There  was  a  large  party, — a  splendid"  show,  and  I  went  through  it  just 

*  W.  Preston,  of  Kentucky,  afterwards  Minister  to  Spain. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  289 

as  if  I  enjoyed  it.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  do  so,  and  for  that  reason  I 
diditrTBut  if  I  had  consulted  my  own  inclinations,  I  should  have  spent 
thlj  tihie  in  solitude." 

On  the  15th  of  January,  Mr.  Stephens  made  his  remarkable 
speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Campbell,  of  Ohio.  The  largest  audience 
of  the  session  was  present,  and  the  impression  made,  both  on 
the  House  and  the  public,  was  very  great.  Mr.  Campbell  had 
attempted  to  refute  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Stephens  that  the  South 
had  received  few,  if  any,  favors  at  the  hands  of  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  by  referring  to  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  Florida, 
Texas,  and  the  Territories  acquired  by  the  Mexican  War.  Mr. 
Stephens  replied  that  these  acquisitions  are  not  for  the  benefit 
of  the  South  alone,  but  for  that  of  all  the  States.  That,  more 
over,  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  covered  a  vast  tract  of  terri 
tory  reaching  from  the  Gulf  to  49°  north  latitude,  and  west  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  of  which  the  North  received  more  than 
double  the  amount  that  fell  to  the  South.  As  to  Florida,  the 
acquisition  of  that  State  brought  with  it  the  acquisition  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  Territory,  or  three  hundred  and  eight  thousand 
and  fifty-two  square  miles,  while  Florida  had  but  fifty-nine 
thousand  and  sixty-eight.  So  while  Texas  came  in  as  a  slave 
State  with  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred 
and  four  square  miles,  the  North,  on  the  Territories  obtained 
from  Mexico,  received  six  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  square  miles  in  California,  New 
Mexico,  and  Utah.  He  showed  further  that  if  the  line  of 
36°  30'  were  to  be  taken  as  the  boundary  between  North  and 
South,  of  the  new  Territories  acquired  one  million  eight  hundred 
thousand  square  miles  lay  north  of  that  line,  and  but  seven 
hundred  thousand  south  of  it.  So  that  it  ill-befitted  a  Northern 
man  to  refer  to  the  acquisition  of  these  Territories  as  favors 
granted  to  the  South. 

He  then  referred  to  Mr.  Campbell's  strictures  upon  his  sta 
tistics  of  the  products  of  Ohio  and  Georgia.  Mr.  Campbell 
had  asserted  that  Mr.  Stephens  had  valued  the  products  of  Ohio 
at  too  low  figures,  and  those  of  Georgia  too  high,  to  prove 
which  assertion  he  had  constructed  a  set  of  tables  to  show  a 
heavy  balance  in  favor  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Stephens  in  reply  pro- 

19 


290  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

duced  a  memorandum  drawn  up  for  him  some  time  before  by 
Mr.  Campbell  himself,  at  his  request,  giving  to  Ohio  products 
the  identical  values  which  he  had  taken  !  This  exhibition  was 
a  nailer ,  and  its  production  caused  a  great  sensation.  Still,  Mr. 
Stephens  continued,  he  was  willing  to  adopt — though  he  denied 
its  equity — Mr.  Campbell's  position  that  the  same  prices  should 
be  attached  to  the  same  articles  in  the  comparison,  irrespective 
of  what  value  they  might  bear  in  their  home  markets;  and  was 
content  to  value  all  by  Ohio  prices.  This  done,  the  tables 
showed  a  still  greater  balance  in  favor  of  Georgia!  He  then 
took  up  Mr.  Campbell's  figures,  and  showed  their  monstrous 
fallacies,  such  as  estimating  the  hay-crop  of  Ohio  at  sixteen 
dollars  per  ton,  as  so  much  of  Ohio's  wealth,  when  it  bore  no 
such  price  there,  nor  anything  like  it ;  the  New  York  cost,  which 
Mr.  Campbell  had  quoted,  being  chiefly  due  to  the  expense  of 
transportation.  (This  ridiculous  fallacy  of  estimating  the  whole 
hay-crop  of  the  Western  prairies  at  the  price  baled  hay  was 
bringing  in  the  New  York  market,  as  if  the  cost  of  transporta 
tion  of  a  product  to  a  distant  market  was  a  part  of  the  wealth, 
instead  of  an  offset  to  the  wealth,  of  the  producing  region,  has 
been  often  since  repeated  and  believed  even  by  those  who  should 
have  more  sense.  It  would  be  quite  as  reasonable  to  calculate 
the  tons  of  ice  in  the  glaciers  of  Greenland  and  estimate  them 
at  their  value  in  the  market  of  Havana;  a  proceeding  which 
would  show  that  desolate  region  as  richer  than  all  Europe.) 

Other  points  of  statistics  he  took  up  in  turn,  and  in  each 
showed  triumphantly  that  they  bore  out  the  truth  of  his  position. 
We  cite  an  instance  : 

"  I  come  now  to  railroads.  The  gentleman  says  that  Ohio  has  2367 
miles  of  railroad  in  operation,  while  Georgia  has  but  884,  by  the  census, 
placing  Ohio  1485  miles  ahead.  Very  well,  sir.  This  is  a  very  good 
showing ;  and  if  she  had  five  times  as  many  more  miles,  it  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  what  I  said  about  agricultural  products.  But.  sir,  as 
favorable  as  this  showing  seems  to  be  for  Ohio,  if  we  look  a  little  into  the 
matter,  it  will  not  be  so  bad  for  Georgia  as  the  gentleman  seems  to  imagine. 
I  find,  by  looking  into  the  Railroad  Journal,  and  taking  all  the  roads  in 
Ohio  and  Georgia, — the  condition  of  which  is  given  in  that  publication, — 
that  1071  miles  of  the  Ohio  roads,  which  have  a  capital  of  $18,094,102, 
have  also  a  funded  debt  of  $12,225,400;  while  in  Georgia,  553  miles  of 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  291 

her  roads,  the  capital  of  which  is  $9,099,975,  have  a  funded  debt  of  only 
$732,401. 

u  From  this  it  appears  that  the  roads  in  Ohio,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  get  information,  are  two-thirds  unpaid  for ;  while  in  Georgia  less  than 
one-twelfth  of  hers  is  unpaid  for.  If  all  the  roads  in  each  State,  therefore, 
stand  in  a  similar  condition,  or  if  the  1071  in  one  and  553  in  the  other 
may  be  taken  as  a  sample  for  the  whole  in  each  State,  then  Georgia  has 
more  road  completed  and  paid  for  than  Ohio  has.  Two-thirds  of  2367,  the 
number  of  miles  of  the  Ohio  roads,  is  1578,  which,  taken  from  that  sum, 
leaves  only  789  miles  in  operation  and  paid  for.  While  one-twelfth  taken 
from  884  miles  of  the  Georgia  roads,  leaves  811  miles  complete  and  paid 
for.  And  why  should  not  these  improvements,  boasted  of  as  they  are  as 
evidence  of  prosperity,  be  subjected  to  this  test?  Is  it  any  more  evidence 
of  the  thrift  or  prosperity  of  a  people  that  they  have  railroads  for  which 
they  are  heavily  encumbered,  than  it  is  of  the  thrift  or  prosperity  of  a  man, 
from  the  fact  that  he  accumulates  property  by  running  in  debt  for  it?  A 
man's  real  thrift  can  only  be  correctly  ascertained  by  knowing  not  only 
what  he  has  and  what  he  makes,  but  what  he  owes ;  and  the  same  prin 
ciple  is  equally  applicable  to  States  or  communities." 

With  the  same  masterly  clearness  he  swept  away  the  other 
sophistical  arguments  of  his  opponent,  establishing  more  firmly 
than  ever  the  just  boast  of  his  friends  that  "  no  man  ever  got 
the  better  of  Stephens  in  debate."  And  these  triumphs  were  not 
won  by  flourishes  of  rhetoric,  or  by  ingenious  jugglery  with 
words ;  but  by  strong  argument,  by  reasoning  clear  and  irrefrag 
able,  and  by  the  power  of  his  never-failing  memory,  that  seemed 
never  to  lose  its  grasp,  and  was  always  ready  to  supply  the  facts 
on  which  his  argument  rested  or  which  helped  to  sustain  it. 

January  18th. — "  I  have  been  quite  unwell  all  this  week.  Monday  I 
spoke.  I  had  an  immense  audience,  and  made,  I  think,  a  good  speech." 

After  some  complaints  of  the  manner  in  which  his  speeches 
are  reported  by  the  press,  he  concludes :  "  I  would  not  thus 
speak  of  myself  to  any  other  person  upon  earth." 

January  21st. — "  The  Democratic  members  from  the  South  are  generally 
a  good-for-nothing  set.  They  follow  the  Administration,  and  the  whole 
Administration  policy  now  is  courting  the  North.  They  are  undisguisedly 
against  Cuba,  and  against  Kansas  coming  in  as  a  slave  State.  That  is, 
they  want  the  people  there  to  prohibit  it,  and  hence  Southern  members  do 
not  look  with  favor  upon  any  argument  in  favor  of  Southern  institutions. 
As  to  the  Southern  press,  what  shall  I  say  of  it  ?  It  does  nothing  but  re- 


292  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

vamp  Northern  ideas  and  Northern  news.  If  I  were  to  illustrate  it  by  a 
figure,  I  could  draw  a  very  apt  one  from  Ohio,  on  which  my  thoughts  have 
lately  been  mostly  occupied.  The  way  of  fattening  hogs  there  in  some 
places  is  to  put  them  in  pens  or  floors  in  tiers  over  each  other.  The  corn 
is  first  given  to  the  topmost  tier.  What  passes  through  is  fed  upon  by  the 
next,  and  so  on  down  to  the  last,  and  what  stuff  they  have !  Such  is  just 
the  stuff  which  descends  from  the  Northern  to  the  Southern  press." 

In  the  spring  lie  paid  a  visit  of  several  days  to  Linton,  and 
after  returning  home  he  complains  of  ill  health,  and  writes  in  a 
rather  melancholy  vein  : 

"  I  have  a  presentiment  that  my  career  is  nearly  run.  I  have  a  great 
deal  to  say  to  you ;  but  it  does  seem  when  we  are  together  that  I  have  no 
time  to  talk.  Soon  we  shall  be  separated,  never  to  meet  in  this  life  ;  and 
then  how  strange  it  will  seem  to  you  that  we  talked  so  little  about  those 
things  that  you  will  then  think  most  about !" 

The  later  letters  for  this  year  have  much  to  say  about  Know- 
Nothingism.  The  Whig  party  having  been  disorganized  by 
affiliations  of  its  Northern  members  with  the  Free-Soilers,  this 
new  party  sprang  into  being,  and  soon  drew  into  its  ranks  a 
majority  of  Southern  Whigs  and  a  considerable  number  of 
Southern  Democrats.  Mr.  Stephens,  so  soon  as  he  learned  -its 
principles,  opposed  it  with  energy.  Its  restrictions  on  foreign 
ers  desiring  citizenship;  its  introduction  of  religious  tests  into 
politics;  the  fact  of  its  being  a  secret  political  organization, — 
these  he  considered  utterly  opposed  to  republicanism  and  the 
spirit  of  our  institutions.  But  he  had  determined  not  to  be  a 
candidate  for  re-election,  and  therefore  took  a  public  position  on 
this  issue  later  than  he  would  otherwise  have  done. 

He  writes,  on  April  20th,  on  his  return  from  Oglethorpe 
court : 

"I  have  determined  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  politics  under  the 
new  regime.  I  notified  them  in  conversation  at  Oglethorpe  that  I  was  out 
of  the  field.  I  was  not  a  candidate  for  re-election,  and  I  should  not  be  as 
things  were  now  going.  The  leading  ideas  now  sought  to  be  inculcated 
upon  the  Whigs  are  to  proscribe  foreigners  and  Catholics ;  but  I  should 
do  neither,  .  .  .  The  most  dangerous  enemies  to  our  country  are  the  Free- 
Soilers  and  Abolitionists.  To  crush  them  out  I  would  join  with  any 
honest  man,  be  he  Jew  or  Gentile,  American-born  or  adopted  citizen." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  293 

Oil  the  5th  of  May,  Judge  Thomas  W.  Thomas  addressed 
him  a  letter,  requesting  him  to  make  public  his  views  with 
regard  to  the  Know-Nothing  party,  to  which  he  replied*  on 
the  9th  with  what  is  known  as-h»  Letter  on  Know-Nothingism, 
in  whifthjift  disspcfc  fhf>  prjnfj|TJfts  of  the  party;  shows  the  evtt 
results  which  will  flow  from  them,  and  the  covert  mischief 
which  they  were  intended  to  effect;  and  shows  how,  of  all  men, 
the  Southern  people  should  be  opposed  to  such  a  party  and  such 
principles.  This  letter  produced  a  strong  impression  throughout 
the  State,  where  the  new  order  had  a  very  large  following ; 
indeed,  it  is  probable  that  at  this  time  it  was  favored  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  voters  in  his  own  district.  The  impressive 
appeal  from  a  man  whose  sincerity  and  patriotism  had  never 
been  really  doubted,  even  by  those  who  differed  most  widely 
from  him  in  political  views,  "kindled  a  blaze  in  ' Sam's'  camp, 
and  for  a  while  looked  like  blowing  it  up,"  especially  in  the 
western  counties  of  Georgia.  But  the  leaders  of  the  new  party 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  counteract  this  effect,  and 
raised  the  excitement  to  a  pitch  that  had  never  before  been  known 
in  the  State.  The  most  rancorous  hostility  was  directed  against 
Mr.  Stephens,  and  it  was  asserted  by  many  leading  Know- 
Nothings  that  his  opposition  was  merely  the  result  of  his  dis 
appointed  ambition  and  mortification  at  being  forced  to  retire 
from  Congress ;  as  he  knew  that  the  new  party  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  him.  These  taunts,  and  a  conviction  of 
the  mischief  that  would  result  from  the  success  of  the  new 
party,  changed  Mr.  Stephens's  resolution,  and  he  determined  to 
take  the  field  again. 

On  May  26th  he  writes : 

"  To-morrow  night  I  intend  to  go  to  Augusta  and  declare  myself  a 
candidate  for  Congress.  I  have  heard  taunts  that  I  am  afraid  to  run.  I 
will  run,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may.  I  may  be  beaten  :  but  I 
may  sow  seeds  of  truth  in  the  canvass  that  hereafter  may  save  the  country. 
If  I  can  do  that,  what  though  I  fall  ?  ^The  times  are  ominous,  and  every 
man  should  do  what  he  can  to  arrest  a  monstrous  outrage  upon  the 
Constitution,  though  he  fall  in  his  work??.  .  .  I  feel  my  blood  up.  When 
the  preacher's  voice  is  raised  for  religious  persecution,  and  against  the 
Catholics,  I  think  of  the  infamous  Titus  Gates.  Enough  !  I  shall  be  in 
the  fight,  thick  and  heavy." 


294  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

So  he  went  to  Augusta,  and  made  a  public  speech,  in  which 
he  announced  himself  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Alluding  to 
the  taunts  that  he  was  afraid,  he  speaks  thus : 

"I  am  afraid  of  nothing  on  earth,  or  above  the  earth,  or  under  the 
earth,  but  to  do  wrong.  The  path  of  duty  I  shall  endeavor  to  travel, 
fearing  no  evil,  and  dreading  no  consequences.  I  would  rather  be  defeated 
in  a  good  cause  than  to  triumph  in  a  bad  one.  I  would  not  give  a  fig  for 
a  man  who  would  shrink  from  the  discharge  of  duty  for  fear  of  defeat." 

•   He  then  launched  out  into  an  attack  upon  the  principles  of 
the  new  order : 

"They  assume,"  he  says,  "the  specious  motto  'Americans  shall  rule 
America,'  yet  they  aim  at  putting  a  large  class  of  as  good  and  as  true 
native  Americans  as  the  writer  himself"  [an  opponent  to  whom  he  is 
referring]  "  under  the  ban  of  civil  proscription.  Are  not  the  descendants 
of  Catholic  Marylanders  as  much  Americans  by  birth  as  the  New  England 
descendants  of  the  Puritans  that  landed  on  Plymouth  rock  ?  While  the 
specious  outside  title  of  the  party  is,  'Americans  shall  rule  America/ 
when  we  come  to  look  at  its  secret  objects  as  they  leak  out,  we  find  that 
one  of  its  main  purposes  is  not  that  '  Americans  shall  rule  America,'  but 
that  those  of  a  particular  religious  faith,  though  as  good  Americans  as 
any  others,  shall  be  ruled  by  the  rest." 

He  next  showed  that  the  immediate,  the  pressing  danger  was 
not  from  the  Catholics,  but  from  the  Free-Soilers  and  Abolition 
ists,  and  that  it  was  the  wildest  madness  to  neglect  a  real  and 
imminent,  to  provide  for  a  contingent  and  imaginary  peril. 
Again  he  strikes  at  the  secret  character  of  the  movement,  as 
unfitted  to  a  free  and  republican  community,  where  all  public 
acts,  measures,  and  parties  should  be  open  to  public  scrutiny. 
Such  an  organization  partook  of  the  nature  of  a  conspiracy, 
and  could  only  be  justified  on  the  ground  that  it  was  revolu 
tionary  in  its  character,  and  an  attempt,  by  unlawful  means, 
to  overthrow  the  Constitution.  He  denounced  the  attempt  to 
introduce  religious  tests,  and  bring  about  a  religious  Avar,  for 
such  would  undoubtedly  be  the  result. 

"It  is,"  he  says,  "the  first  movement  of  the  kind  since  the  foundation  of 
our  Government.  Already  we  see  the  spirit  abroad  which  is  to  enkindle 
the  fires  and  set  the  fagots  a-blazing, — not  by  the  Catholics:  they  are 
comparatively  few  and  weak ;  their  only  safety  is  in  the  shield  of  the  con 
stitutional  guaranty  ;  minorities  seldom  assail  majorities;  arid  persecutions 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPII1-;.\X.  095 

always  begin  with  the  larger  numbers  against  the  smaller.  But  this 
spirit  is  evinced  by  one  of  the  numerous  replies  to  my  letter.  He  says, 
'We  call  upon  the  children  of  the  Puritans  of  the  North  and  the  Hugue 
nots  of  the  South,  by  the  remembrance  of  the  fires  of  Smithfield  and  the 
bloody  St.  Bartholomew,  to  lay  down  for  once  all  sectional  difficulties,' 
etc.,  and  join  in  this  great  American  movement  of  proscribing  Catholics. 
What  is  this  but  the  tocsin  of  intestine  strife?  Why  call  up  the  remem 
brance  of  the  fires  of  Smithfield  but  to  whet  the  Protestant  appetite  for 
vengeance?  Why  stir  up  the  quiet  ashes  of  bloody  St.  Bartholomew 
but  for  the  hope,  perhaps,  of  finding  therein  a  slumbering  spark  from 
which  new  fires  may  be  started?  Why  exhume  the  atrocities,  cruelties, 
and  barbarities  of  ages  gone  by  from  the  repose  in  which  they  have  been 
buried  for  hundreds  of  years,  unless  it  be  to  reproduce  the  seed  and 
spread  among  us  the  same  moral  infection  and  loathsome  contagion?  Just 
as  it  is  said  the  plague  is  sometimes  occasioned  in  London  by  disentombing 
and  exposing  to  the  atmosphere  the  latent  virus  of  the  fell  disease  still 
lingering  in  the  dusty  bones  of  those  who  died  of  it  centuries  ago !" 

The  speech  closed  with  an  eloquent  appeal  to  all  who  loved 
their  country  and  constitutional  liberty- to  open  their  eyes  to  the 
real  dangers  and  the  real  enemies  who  were  to  be  feared,  and  to 
co-operate  zealously  with  any  men  or  party,  North  or  South,  who 
would  help  to  combat  them.  In  conclusion  he  announced  him 
self  as  a  candidate,  irrespective  of  the  action  of  any  convention. 

In  June,  Linton  Stephens  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for 
Congress,  in  the  seventh  (adjoining)  district,  and  on  the  23d  his 
brother  thus  writes  to  him,  on  his  return  from  a  visit  of  several 
days : 

"  The  ride  to  me  this  evening  was  one  of  meditation.  .  .  .  You  were 
the  central  figure  of  my  thoughts.  Your  success,  not  only  in  this  new 
step  you  are  about  to  take,  but  in  the  greater  future  of  life  before  you, 
just  now  beginning  to  open, — this  was  the  engrossing  theme  of  my 
thoughts.  You  embody  all  that  is  really  dear  to  me  in  life.  In  you  and 
about  you  are  centred  all  my  hopes  and  aspirations  of  an  earthly  nature ; 
and  whatever  affects  your  welfare  and  happiness  touches  me  more  sensi 
tively,  if  possible,  than  anything  that  affects  my  own.  I  could  bear 
almost  anything  if  I  knew  that  all  was  well  with  you.  And  I  shall  feel 
and  take  much  more  interest  in  your  success  in  this  race  than  in  my  own. 
If  you  are  elected  I  shall  feel  content,  whatever  may  be  my  fate.  Arm 
yourself,  therefore,  for  the  fight.  The  first  thing  is  to  get  a  perfect  com 
mand  of  your  temper:  on  all  occasions  on  the  stump  to  be  in  a  good 
humor.  Provide  yourself  with  every  document  or  reference  that  you  may 
want.  Think  of  the  question  in  all  its  length  and  breadth,  until  your  soul 


296  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

shall  glow  with  the  ardor  of  patriotism,  which  shall  seek  vent  by  utter 
ance  through  the  lips.  Good-night.  My  old  house  looks  cheerless  to 
night." 

June  29th. — "  To-morrow  I  go  to  Ray  town,  then  to  Elbert,  then  to  Co 
lumbia,  then  to  Jefferson.  Fenn's  Bridge  on  the  17th  July.  I  have 
been  quite  unwell  all  the  week,  and  am  so  still.  The  weather  is  hot,  and 
I  am  getting  weak.  It  is  said  that  there  will  be  a  tremendous  crowd  at 
Raytown  to-morrow.  Oh  that  I  were  strong  in  body  !" 

June  30th. — "  I  have  just  returned  from  Raytown.  We  had  a  good  time 
there  to-day.  A  large  crowd  present,  from  Augusta,  Washington,  War- 
renton,  Greensborough,  and  Columbia  Court-House.  I  was  feeble,  but  I 
think  I  made  one  of  the  best  speeches  I  ever  made  in  my  life.  This  is  my 
opinion  ;  I  do  not  know  what  others  may  think  of  it.  I  would  not  say 
this  to  any  other  in  the  world  but  to  you,  and  to  you  only  because  I  know 
you  would  like  to  have  my  opinion  as  well  as  that  of  others.  Poor  Ire 
land  was  out  in  mass.  .  .  .  The  spirit  was  in  me,  and  I  never  spoke  with 
greater  liberty  and  unction.  P wished  to  know  whom  I  would  sup 
port  for  Governor.  I  told  him  I  would  consider  of  that  matter.  He 
knew  I  did  not  intend  to  vote  for  Johnson.  If  Andrews*  would  come 
out  and  declare  himself  in -opposition  to  the  two  leading  articles  of  the 
Know-Nothing  creed,  I  might  vote  for  him.  But  the  contest  I  was  en 
gaged  in  was  one  of  my  own.  The  Governor's  election  was  a  matter  that 
I  should  have  nothing  to  do  with,  except,  perhaps,  to  vote.  I  had  my 
own  canoe  to  paddle,  and  every  man  in  this  campaign  must  '  tote  his  own 
skillet.1  " 

This  "  skillet"  was  a  reference  to  an  anecdote,  well  known  to 
Linton,  of  the  elder  General  Dodge,  Senator  for  Iowa.  Daring 
the  war  of  1812  he  and  a  number  of  others  were  taken  prisoners 
by  a  party  of  Indians,  who,  in  their  marchings  about,  compelled 
the  prisoners  to  carry  the  cooking  utensils  of  their  captors  as 
well  as  their  own.  At  the  end  of  about  the  third  day  the 
general,  desperate  of  consequences,  stopped,  threw  down  his 
burden,  and  remarked,  "  Mr.  Indian,  from  henceforth  every 
man  of  this  crowd  has  got  to  tote  his  own  skillet,  so  far  as  I'm 
concerned !" 

August  5th. — Augusta.  "  We  had  a  great  day  here  yesterday.  A  very 
large  crowd,  much  larger  than  I  expected.  Jenkins  announced  and  intro 
duced  me  in  his  happiest  style.  I  spoke  two  hours  and  a  half.  The 


*  Hon.  Garnett  Andrews,  Know-Nothing  candidate  for  Governor,  against 
Governor  Johnson,  who  was  a  candidate  for  re-election. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  297 

speech  took  very  well,  but  it  was  by  no  means  one  of  my  best  efforts. 
The  weather  was  too  hot :  I  was  too  hoarse,  and  felt  feeble.     At  the  din 
ner-table  I  gave  them  a  brief  home-touch  with  much  greater  effect.     The 
'"point  in  my  speech  there,  which  produced  the  greatest  effect,  was  the  com- 
j  ments  I  made  on  the  Know-Nothing  constitution,  the  three  great  powers, 
I  to  tax,  to  punish,  and  to  decide  the  national  politics.     That  produced  a 
~strong  effect,  I  think,  and,  strange  to  say,  several  of  the  most  prominent 
and  sensible  men  in  Augusta  were  surprised  at  it.    They  had  never  heard 
of  it  before." 

August  13th. — Louisville,  Georgia.  "  I  am  glad  you  are  getting  on  so 
well.  In  my  district  I  should  have  no  difficulty,  I  think,  if  I  were  not 
complicated  with  the  Governor's  election.  How  it  will  be  in  the  end  I 
cannot  say.  In  Burke  there  are  but  few  Know-Nothings,  but  they  will 
not  run  a  ticket  there.  The  Johnson  men  will  run  me.  I  am  apprehen 
sive  that  this  will  cause  the  Andrews  men  to  vote  the  other  way.  Johnson 
cannot  carry  the  county.  lie  will  be  beaten  by  two  hundred  votes,  they 
say.  So  you  see  how  I  may  be  mashed  up  by  that  operation.  I  made 
them  one  of  my  best  speeches  at  "\Vaynesborough,  and  am  to  speak  at  two 
other  places  in  the  county  this  week.  But  all  this  is  labor  lost.  They 
have  no  ticket  out  for  the  Legislature,  and  it  is  folly  to  be  addressing  them 
now." 

September  16th. — "  In  Morgan*  the  die  is  cast.  Men  there  are  bitter. 
Speaking  does  no  good, — not  a  particle.  At  least  speaking  in  towns  does 
not." 

September  20th. — He  and  Mr.  Toombs  have  been  speaking  in 
Columbia,  where  friends  say  they  will  carry  the  election  by  a 
tight  squeeze.  Toombs  is  going  into  Linton's  district. 

'•  He  will  do  you  more  good  than  he  will  me.  I  think  I  shall  be  elected 
by  six  hundred  majority.  Write  to  me  at  Washington.  I  shall  be  there 
next  Monday,  go  to  Augusta  Tuesday,  go  up  to  Providence,  speak  there 
Friday,  and  Raytown  Saturday,  come  home  then  and  watch  the  result.  I 
wish  the  election  was  over.  I  feel  a  great  deal  more  interest  in  your  case 
than  I  do  in  my  own.  I  am  prepared  for  your  defeat ;  and  yet  I  can  but 
hope  against  hope." 

As  he  feared,  Linton  was  beaten  by  his  opponent,  N.  G. 
Foster,  by  a  small  vote, — less  than  a  hundred.  Alexander  was 
elected  over  his  opponent,  Lafayette  Lamar,  by  a  majority  of 
nearly  three  thousand,  one  of  the  heaviest  he  has  ever  received. 

This  was  perhaps  the  most  exciting  campaign  ever  held  in 

*  Morgan  County  was  in  Linton's  district. 


298  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 


Georgia.  \Mr.  Stephens  entered  into  it  with  unusual  spirit  and 
zeal,  and,  though  in  very  weak  health,  was  indefatigable  in  his 
exertions,  making  many  addresses,  as  powerful  as  were  ever 
heard  at  the  hustingsTj  In  some  he  rose  to  a  truly  wonderful 
height  of  eloquence.  The  summer  was  excessively  hot.  He 
would  speak  for  hours,  and  at  last  sink  exhausted  from  mere 
fatigue,  every  thread  of  his  clothes  drenched  with  perspiration. 
Wrapping  himself  in  a  cloak,  he  would  hurry  to  his  hotel, 
change  his  clothes,  and  then  drive  off  in  his  buggy,  with  his 
servant  Harry  and  his  faithful  Rio,  to  keep  another  appoint 
ment,  thirty  or  forty  miles  distant,  on  the  next  day.  Such  dis 
plays  of  power  by  a  being  so  slight  and  frail,  excited  even  more 

than  the  usual  astonishment  among  his  hearers.     "  My  G !" 

cried  a  man  who  then  saw  him  for  the  first  time,  u  there  is 
nothing  about  him  but  lungs  and  brains  !"  His  denunciations 
of  the  secret  order  were  terrific,  and  often  apprehensions  were 
felt  of  serious  disturbances  at  his  appointments.  The  wrath  of 
the  Know-Nothing  leaders  knew  no  bounds;  and  threats  were 
made  that  unless  he  moderated  his  tone,  measures  would  be  taken 
to  silence  him.  He  was  once  asked  if  he  did  not  consider  that 
some  of  his  attacks  were  rather  too  severe.  "  No,"  he  an 
swered  ;  "  it  is  a  disease  not  for  plasters,  but  for  the  knife." 

The  sudden  rise  of  this  party,  and  the  energy  with  which  it 
struggled  for  success,  are  among  the  strangest  things  in  our 
history.  It  was  astonishing  to  see  how  quickly  and  fiercely  the 
passions  of  religious  hostility  were  kindled  up,  while  there  were 
many  men,  the  disgrace  of  humanity,  who  strove  to  inflame  these 
passions,  even  at  the  risk  of  plunging  the  country  into  a  religious 
war,  merely  to  gain  their  personal  and  selfish  ends ;  and  even  at 
this  day  there  are  some  who  try  to  fan  the  extinct  embers  into 
flame  again,  for  purposes  not  more  creditable.  When  the  move 
ment  had  collapsed,  most  of  the  participants  were  ashamed  of 
their  connexion  with  it,  and  many  and  ingenious  were  the  ex 
cuses  they  devised  to  explain  their  action.  Mr.  Stephens  was 
asked  by  a  friend  if  he  thought  they  would  renew  the  fight 
next  year.  He  answered,  "  No.  They  will  run  from  Know- 
Nothingism  as  they  would  from  the  carcass  of  a  horse, — yes, 
of  an  elephant." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  299 

In  November  he  went  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  from  which 
place  he  writes,  on  the  30th : 

"  I  am  once  more,  as  you  see,  in  Washington,  and  I  feel  badly.  If  I 
had  my  course  for  the  last  nine  months  to  go  over  again,  I  believe  now  I 
should  not  be  a  candidate,  but  should  remain  at  home  and  attend  to  my 
business.  In  public  life  the  game  with  me  is  not  worth  the  candle.  I  find 
it  is  all  I  can  do  to  live  here  without  going  in  debt ;  while  my  affairs  at 
home  are  sadly  neglected  in  my  absence.  At  the  hotel  I  could  not  get 
comfortable  quarters  for  less  than  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  dollars  per  month  for  myself  and  servant.  I  looked 
about  a  day  or  two,  and  am  now  settled  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  D 
Streets,  at  Crutchett's." 

December  2d. — "  I  am  very  well  pleased  with  the  political  prospect  as 
far  as  I  have  yet  seen.  I  find  that  a  better  state  of  feeling  is  now  existing 
among  the  Northern  Democrats  than  I  ever  saw  before.  I  drew  up  a 
resolution  for  their  caucus  last  night,  which  was  presented  by  J.  Glancy 
Jones,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  unanimously  adopted.  I  did  not  go  into  the 
caucus,  but  heartily  approve  what  they  did.  Every  Northern  Democrat  in 
the  House  was  for  the  resolution.  You  will  see  that  I  stick  to  your 
resolution  of  the  last  Georgia  Legislature  as  a  nucleus.  Did  you  think 
when  you  drew  that  resolution  that  it  was  the  germ  of  a  great  national 
organization?"* 

December  3d. — u  The  Northern  Democrats  seem  to  think  more  of  me  than 
of  their  old  party-line  men.  They  have  confidence  in  my  integrity,  and, 
among  other  things,  spoke  of  my  quitting  the  opposition  in  the  majority, 
and  acting  with  a  minority  on  principle.  This  they  look  upon  as  a  rare 
virtue  in  these  days  of  going  into  '  <a_wild _  Jurat- -after  office  and  spoils.' 
You  have  quite  a  reputation  here  as  an  orator  and  stump-speaker.  Cobb 
is  loud  in  your  praise.  Georgia  is  held  in  high  estimation ;  and  Cobb 
openly  attributes  the  result  to  you  and  me.  I  think  the  Georgia  election  is 
more  talked  of  than  that  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  The  members 
from  Alabama,  North  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Texas, 
and  Kentucky  say  they  made  the  fight  on  my  lead  and  the  Georgia  line." 

There  is  also  an  account  of  a  dinner  party,  at  which  one 
thing  struck  him  as  curious : 

"  I  saw  what  I  never  saw  before, — persimmons  set  on  the  table  with 
other  fruits  as  part  of  the  dessert ;  and,  strange  to  say,  they  were  con- 

*  In  urging  Mr.  Jones  to  offer  this  resolution,  Mr.  Stephens  said  to  him, 
"  If  you  will  do  this,  I  will  go  up  to  the  House,  and  bring  all  the  Southern 
Whig  support  I  can ;  and  if  you  will  take  the  resolution  and  make  it  your 
platform,  I  guarantee  the  result." 


300  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

sidered  a  great  rarity  and  favorite  dish.      Verily,  other  things  besides 
prophets  are  not  without  honor  save  in  their  own  country." 

At  the  beginning  of  this  session  of  Congress  occurred  the  great 
dead-lock  in  the  House,  owing  to  the  inability  of  either  party  to 
elect  a  Speaker,  which  continued  until  the  4th  of  February. 

December  llth. — "  We  voted  to-day  again  for  Speaker.  Banks  got  107. 
Whether  he  can  get  the  six  more  needed  for  election  I  cannot  tell.  If  men 
were  reliable  creatures,  I  should  say  he  never  can.  But  my  observation 
has  taught  me  that  very  little  confidence  is  to  be  placed  on  what  they  say 
asjio  what  they  will  do.  ...  I  should  not  be  surprised  at  any  moment  to 
see  Cullom's  Tennessee  friends  go  over  in  mass  to  Banks.  I  would  as  soon 
vote  for  Banks  as  for  Cullom.  .  .  .  Sometimes  I  have  a  good  will  to  quit 
work  and  take  my  ease,  and  go  home  and  attend  to  my  business,  letting 
the  people  get  some  one  else  to  do  their  work.  For  what  does  it  all  amount 
to?  Nothing— absolutely  nothing.  This  world's  honor,  when  the  cup  of 
ambition  is  filled  to  the  brim,  is  nothing  at  last  but  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit." 

December  27th. — "Banks  came  within  three  votes  of  election  to-day. 
They  rescinded  my  resolution  about  adjourning.  When  the  vote  was 
announced,  old  Miller  at  my  right,  whom  you  felt  some  interest  about 
(touching  his  religion  at  least),  remarked  to  me  in  rather  an  undertone,  '  It 
is  a  G —  d —  shame !'  I  send  you  this  as  the  only  information  I  have 
received  as  to  what  church  he  belongs  to." 

December  30th. — "  We  adjourned  last  night  at  six  o'clock.  No  Speaker. 
.  .  .  We  have  had  a  little  work  going  on  behind  the  curtain  here  for  nearly 
two  days,  that  may  be  interesting  to  you.  The  night  before  last,  as  I  was 
going  into  the  caucus,  I  called  by  Cobb's  room  for  him.  In  conversation 
I  learned  from  him  that  the  President  was  very  desirous  for  the  House  to 
organize.  His  message,  he  thinks,  has  important  matters  bearing  upon 
foreign  questions  which  may  affect  the  question  of  peace  in  Europe,  if 
they  can  be  communicated  so  as  to  go  out  in  the  steamer  of  this  week. 
By  the  by,  I  may  tell  you  that  he  thinks  that  upon  the  publication  of 
certain  correspondence  of  Palmerston,  he  will  be  overthrown  in  Parlia 
ment,  and  then  a  peace  ministry  put  in.  Without  considering  the  merits 
of  that  view  at  all,  of  which  I  am  not  fully  advised,  and  looking  only  at 
the  accomplishment  of 'his  object,  to  get  his  message  out,  I  gave  it  as  my 
opinion  that,  if  I  were  President,  and  thus  wishing  to  communicate  public 
matters  to  Congress,  I  would  send  in  my  message  without  waiting  an 
organization  of  the  House.  I  would  consider  the  members  in  session,  and 
address  them.  Or,  in  any  event,  as  the  Senate  was  organized,  I  would 
address  them  in  executive  session,  and  then  let  them  take  off  the  secrecy 
and  publish  the  message.  This  struck  Cobb,  and  he  put  at  me  to  take  a 
hack  and  go  immediately  with  him  to  the  President.  This  we  did.  At 
first  he  did  not  seem  to  take  to  it  at  all :  he  was  timid  and  shy  ;  but  after 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  3Q1 

a  while  said  he  would  think  of  it  and  consult  his  Cabinet.     The  thing  was 
so  unprecedented,  he  was  afraid  of  it. 

"  Yesterday  he  went  to  see  Toombs  about  it  in  person.  He  [Toombs] 
concurred  with  me.  In  the  evening  I  found  a  precedent  in  the  British 
Parliament,  when  the  House  failed  to  elect  a  Speaker  for  fourteen  days, 
and  the  Crown  communicated  with  them  by  message,  etc.  The  precedent 
is  cited  in  Jefferson's  Manual,  under  head  '  Speaker.'  I  showed  it  to 
Cobb :  he  immediately  sent  it  to  the  President.  In  about  an  hour  after 
wards  Sam  Smith,  of  Tennessee,  who  had  been  saying  all  day  that  the 
President  wanted  the  House  organized  (this  was  said  privately  to  friends), 
came  to  me  and  said  that  he  had  just  received  a  note  from  the  President, 
that  we  had  better  adjourn,  as  it  made  no  matter  about  the  election  that 
day.  The  conclusion  I  came  to  was,  that  he  had  resolved  to  send  in  his 
message  to-morrow,  anyhow,  either  to  both  Houses,  as  I  have  stated,  or  to 
the  Senate.  Cobb  got  a  note  from  him  just  before  we  adjourned,  requesting 
him,  Quitman,  and  myself  to  call  to  see  him  to-morrow  morning  at  ten 
o'clock.  So  I  am  expecting  the  message  to-morrow,  and  if  it  turns  out 
to  be  a  premature  birth,  when  you  see  this  you  will  know  the  occasion  of 
it." 

The  message,  as  Mr.  Stephens  had  anticipated,  was  sent  in 
the  next  day ;  but  the  House,  not  being  organized,  refused  to 
have  it  read. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Debate  with  Mr.  Zollicoifer — Election  of  Mr.  Banks — A  Plausible  Scamp 
and  a  Domestic  Tragedy — The  Minority  Keport  on  the  Kansas  Election 
— Anecdote  of  Mr.. Hale — Speech  on  the  Kansas  Election — News  from 
Kansas — Speech  on  the  Admission  of  Kansas — Death  of  John  Stephens — 
Correspondence  with  Mr.  Johnston — Negligence  of  Southern  Kepresen- 
tatives— Challenges  Mr.  B.  H.  Hill. 

THE  first  letter  of  the  new  year  bears  date  January  8th,  1856. 

"  Last  night  the  Richardson  men  had  a  meeting,  and  we  resolved  to  sit 
it  out.  This  I  brought  them  up  to :  the  plurality  rule  they  could  not  go. 
So  to-morrow  we  shall  have  a  continuous  session.  I  am  not  well  to-day. 
The  snow  is  still  unmelted.  The  thermometer  yesterday  morning. was  6£° 
below  zero,  in  the  city.  Mine,  hanging  at  my  window,  was  at  2°  above 
when  I  got  up  at  seven.  It  was  intensely  cold :  never  since  I  have  been 
in  Washington  was  it  colder." 

On  the  17th  of  January, — the  House  being  still  unorganized, 
and  the  Clerk  in  the  chair, — Mr.  Stephens  had  a  lively  debate 
with  Mr.  Zollicoifer,  of  Tennessee,  on  the  question  whether 
Congress  had  or  had  not  the  power  to  establish  or  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  Territories.  The  gist  of  his  argument  may  be 
found  in  the  closing  paragraphs.  The  question  had  been  asked : 
"  If  the  people  of  the  Territories  have  no  power  except  that  given 
to  them  by  Congress,  and  Congress  has  no  power  to  exclude 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  where  do  the  people  of  the  Territories 
get  the  power  to  exclude  it  there  ?"  Mr.  Stephens  replies : 

"The  people  have,  in  my  opinion,  the  power  to  exclude  it  only  in  a 
State  capacity,  or  when  they  form  their  State  constitution.  Then  they 
get  it  where  all  the  States  get  it.  The  people,  in  a  Territorial  condition, 
are  but  new  States  in  embryo:  this  latent  power  of  full  sovereignty  .^hen 
they  assume  State  form,  then  develops  itself  5  as  wings  to  rise  and  fly, 
though  latent  in  the  chrysalis,  do  nevertheless  develop  themselves  in  full 
beauty,  vigor,  and  perfection  at  the  proper  time.  But  I  have  this  further 
to  say  in  reply  to  the  gentleman  from  Maine  [Mr.  Wash  borne] .  That 
gentleman,  and  I  suppose  a  majority  of  this  House,  hold  that  Congress  has 
the  full  and  absolute  power  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories.  Well, 
302 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  303 

sir,  if  Congress  has  such  power,  it  has  conferred  that  power  upon  the. 
p£oplii  of  Kansas  and  Xebniska.  I  hold  that  Congress  has  not  such  un 
qualified  power ;  but  if  it  has,  as  the  gentleman  believes,  then  the  people 
of  those  Territories  possess  it  under  the  bill.  This  is  evident  from  the 
language  of  the  bill  itself: 

f  "'That  the  Constitution  and  all  laws  of  the  United  States,  which  are  not  locally 
'  inapplicable,  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  in  the  said  Territory  of  Nebraska 
as  elsewhere  within  the  United  States,  except  the  eighth  section  of  the  "Act  pre 
paratory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,"  approved  March  6th,  1820, 
which  being  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with 
slavery  in  the  States  nnd  Territories,  as  recognized  by  the  legislation  of  1850,  com 
monly  called  the  Compromise  measures,  is  hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void;  it 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Terri 
tory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  : 

"  '  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in 
!  force  any  law  or  regulation  which  may  have  existed  prior  to  the  Act  of  Cth  March, 
'  1820,  either  protecting,  establishing,  prohibiting,  or  abolishing  slavery/ 

"  Now,  sir,  as  I  have  stated,  I  voted  for  this  bill,  leaving  the  whole 
matter  to  the  people  to  settle  for  themselves,  subject  to  no  restriction  or 
limitation  but  the  Constitution.  With  this  distinct  understanding  of  its 
import  and  meaning,  and  with  a  determination  that  the  existence  of  this 
power  being  disputed  and  doubted,  it  would  be  much  better  and  much 
more  consistent  with  our  old-time  republican  principles  to  let  the  people 
settle  it,  than  for  Congress  to  do  it.  And  although  my  own  opinion  is 
that  the  people,  under  the  limitations  of  the  Constitution,  have  not  the 
rightful  power  to  exclude  slavery  so  long  as  they  may  remain  in  a  Terri 
torial  condition,  yet  I  am  willing  that  they  may  determine  it  for  them 
selves,  and  when  they  please.  I  shall  never  negative  any  law  they  may 
pass,  if  it  is  the  result  of  a  fair  legislative  expression  of  the  popular  will. 
Never!  I  am  willing  that  the  Territorial  Legislature  may  act  upon  the 
subject  when  and  how  they  may  think  proper.  We  got  the  Congressional 
restriction  taken  off.  The  Territories  were  made  open  and  free  for  immi 
gration  and  settlement  by  the  people  of  all  the  States  alike,  with  their 
property  alike.  No  odious  and  unjust  discrimination  or  exclusion  against 
any  class  or  portion  ;  and  I  am  content  that  those  who  thus  go  there  from 
all  sections,  shall  do  in  this  manner  as  they  please  under  their  organic 
law.  I  wanted  the  question  taken  out  of  the  halls  of  national  legislation. 
It  has  done  nothing  but  disturb  the  public  peace  for  thirty-five  years  or 
more.  So  long  as  Congress  undertakes  to  manage  it,  it  will  continue  to 
do  nothing  but  stir  up  agitation  and  sectional  strife.  The^eopifL-CaiL. dis 
pose  of  it  better  than  we  can.  Why  not  then,  by  common  consent,  drop 
~TT7it~once  and  forever?  Why  not  you,  gentlemen,  around  me,  give  up 
your  so-called  and  so-miscalled  republican  ideas  of  restoring  the  Missouri 
restriction,  and  let  the  people  in  the  far-off  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Ne- 


304  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

braska  look  after  their  own  condition,  present  and  future,  in  their  own 
way?  Is  it  not  much  more  consistent  with  Mr.  Adams's  ideas  of  republic 
anism  for  them  to  attend  to  their  own  domestic  matters  than  for  you  or 
us  to  undertake  to  do  it  for  them  ?  Let  us  attend  to  our  business,  and  let 
them  attend  to  theirs.  What  else  keeps  this  House  disorganized  and  sus 
pends  all  legislative  business?  I  wished,  sir,  in  voting  for  the  Kansas 
Bill,  and  in  carrying  out  in  good  faith  the  great  principles  established  in 
1850, — that  memorable  epoch,  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, — and 
fixing  them  as  the  basis  and  rule  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  General  Gov 
ernment  in  her  Territorial  policy,  to  get  rid  of  this  disturbing  question  here, 
by  referring  it  unrestrictedly,  as  far  as  I  could  under  the  Constitution,  to 
tfre"""p£0ple.  If  they  have  not  the  power  to  settle  it  while  a  Territory,  as  a 
matter  of  absolute  right, — ex  debita  justitia, — I  was  willing,  so  far  as  I 
was  concerned  and  had  the  power  to  do  it,  to  give  it  to  them  as  a  matter 
of  favor, — ex  gratia.  I  am  willing,  as  I  say,  that  they  shall  exercise  the 
power;  and,  if  a  fair  expression  of  the  popular  will — not  such  as  may  be 
effected  by  New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Societies,  or  other  improper  inter 
ference,  but  the  fair  expression  of  the  will  of  the  hardy  pioneers,  who 
going  from  all  sections  without  let  or  hindrance  seek  new  lands  and  new 
homes  in  those  distant  frontier  countries — shall  declare,  in  deliberate  and 
proper  form  under  their  organic  law,  that  slavery  shall  not  exist  among 
them,  and,  if  I  am  here  at  the  time,  I  shall  abide  by  their  decision.  I,  as 
a  member  upon  this  floor,  never  intend  to  raise  the  question  of  their  con 
stitutional  power  to  adopt  such  a  measure.  I  shall  never  attempt  to  tram 
mel  the  popular  will -in  that  case,  although  I  may  think  such  legislation 
wrong  and  unjust,  and  not  consistent  with  constitutional  duty  on  the  part 
of  those  who  enact  it.  Yet  it  will  be  a  wrong  without  any  feasible  remedy, 
so  far  as  I  can  see.  I  am  for  maintaining  with  steadfastness  the  Territorial 
Bills  of  1850, — the  principle  of  leaving  the  people  of  the  Territories,  with 
out  Congressional  restriction,  to  settle  this  question  for  themselves,  and  to 
come  into  the  Union,  when  admitted  as  States,  either  with  or  without 
slavery,  as  they  may  determine.  This  principle  was  recognized  and  estab 
lished  after  the  severest  sectional  struggle  this  country  has  ever  witnessed, 
and  after  the  old  idea,  whether  right  or  wrong  in  itself,  whether  just  or 
unjust,  whether  constitutional  or  unconstitutional,  of  dividing  the  Territo 
ries  between  the  sections,  was  utterly  abandoned  and  repudiated  by  the 
party  that  at  first  forced  it  as  an  alternative  upon  the  other. 

"  The  Kansas  and  Nebraska  Act  carries  out  the  policy  of  this  new  princi 
ple  instead  of  the  old  one.  fThe  country,  with  singular  unanimity,  sus 
tained  the  measures  of  1850  ;  ancfall  that  is  now  wanting  for  the  permanent 
peace  and  repose  of  the  whole  Union  upon  all  these  questions  is  an 
adherence  to  the  measures  of  18507]both  '  in  principle  and  substance,1  as 
the  settled  policy  of  Congress  upmrSn  such  matters.  That  the  people  of  all 
sections  will  come  ultimately,  and  that  before  long,  to  this  stand  I  cannot 
permit  myself  to  doubt.  Let  us  hear  no  more,  then,  of  repeal.  Let  us 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  3Q5 

organize  this  body  upon  a  national  basis  and  a  national  settlement.  Let 
us  turn  our  attention  to  the  business  of  the  country  which  appropriately  be 
longs  to  us.  Yes,  sir,  the  great  and  diversified  interests  of  this  truly  great 
and  growing  country  of  ours,  about  which  we  talk  and  boast  so  much,  and 
about  which  we  have  so  much  reason  to  talk  and  boast.  Let  us  look  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  high  and  noble  mission  assigned  us.  Do  not  let  the  party 
watchwords  of  '  liberty'  and  '  freedom'  for  the  black  man,  which  some  gen 
tlemen  seem  always  ready  to  repeat,  cause  you  to  forget  or  neglect  the 
higher  objects  and  duties  of  government.  These  relate  essentially  to  our 
own  race,  their  well-being,  their  progress,  their  advancement.  Let  the  infe 
rior  race  in  our  midst  take  that  position  for  which,  by  a  wise  Providence, 
it  was  fitted,  and  which  an  enlightened  and  Christian  civilization  in  the 
different  sections  of  our  common  country  may  think  proper  to  assign  it. 

"  Mr.  Clerk,  we  hear  a  great  deal  nowadays  about  Americanism, — and 
by  not  a  few  of  those,  too,  who  call  themselves,  par  excellence,  republicans. 
Now,  sir,  has  America, — with  her  hundreds  of  millions  of  foreign  trade, 
and  millions  almost  beyond  count  of  internal  and  domestic  trade, — with 
her  incalculable  resources  of  commerce,  agriculture,  and  manufactures  in 
a  state  of  rapid  development, — has  America,  the  asylum  of  the  misruled, 
misgoverned,  and  oppressed  of  all  climes, — the  home  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty, — the  light  of  the  world  and  the  hope  of  mankind, — no  higher  objects 
to  occupy  our  attention  than  those  questions  which,  whatever  may  be  their 
merits  touching  the  condition  of  the  African  race  in  the  several  States  and 
Territories,  do  not  properly  come  within  the  purview  of  our  duties  to  look 
after  here? — questions,  the  discussion  of  which  in  this  hall  can  have  no 
possible  effect  but  to  create  agitation,  stir  up  strife,  array  State  against 
State,  section  against  section,  and  to  render  the  Government,  by  suspend 
ing  its  legislative  functions,  incapable  practically  of  performing  those  great 
and  essential  objects  for  which  alone  it  was  expressly  created." 

February  1st. — He  lias  just  received  a  letter  from  Linton,  at 
Lagrange,  where  he  has  been  to  see  their  brother  John,  who  has 
been  sick. 

"  I  have  been  sorely  afflicted  in  mind, — greatly  grieved  and  troubled  on 
account  of  John's  illness.  Life  began  to  wear  an  unusually  dark  and 
melancholy  appearance  to  me.  I  am  now  much  more  cheerful  in  spirits. 
How  long  this  will  last  I  cannot  tell.  .  .  .  We  are  getting  along  very 
well  without  a  Speaker  yet.  But  for  a  faux  pas  on  the  part  of  that  fool 

C ,  I  think  we  should  have  made  Aiken  Speaker  to-day.     I  had  set 

the  programme  for  it  about  ten  days  ago.  My  plan  was  this :  after  the 
plurality  rule  should  have  been  adopted  (which  I  have  all  along  believed 
after  a  while  would  be)  and  two  ballots  should  have  been  had  under 'it,  if 
the  Southern  Know-Nothings  should  not  indicate  a  purpose  to  go  over  to 
Orr  to  prevent  Banks's  election  (which  I  did  not  much  expect  them  to  do), 

20 


306  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

then  Aiken  was  to  be  put  in  nomination  on  the  floor,  Orr  to  decline  and 
let  the  last  vote  be  between  Aiken  and  Banks.  From  my  knowledge  of 
the  House,  its  present  tone  and  temper,  knowledge  of  Aiken  and  the  esti 
mation  he  was  held  in  by  several  of  the  scatterers,  I  believed  he  would 
beat  Banks.  This  I  communicated  to  a  few,  and  a  few  only.  I  gave 
Cobb,  of  Georgia,  my  idea :  he  was  struck  with  it,  and  communicated  it 
to  a  few  others.  It  took  finely.  I  sounded  some  of  the  Western  Know- 
Nothings, — Marshall  and  others, — and  found  that  they  could  be  brought 
into  it.  I  said  nothing  of  my  plan,  but  simply  asked  carelessly  how  Aiken 
would  do.  I  found  that  he  would  do  for  them.  But  after  his  name  began 

to  be  talked  of,  he  got  so  popular  in  the  minds  of  many  that  C ,  a  fool, 

plugged  the  melon  before  it  was  ripe.  That  is,  he  offered  a  resolution  to 
make  Aiken  Speaker,  lie  came  within  seven  votes.  If  we  had  then  been 
under  the  pressure  of  the  plurality  rule,  and  the  choice  between  him  and 
Banks,  he  would  have  been  elected,  sure  as  fate,  in  my  opinion.  For  Scott 

Harrison,  who  voted  No  on  C 's  resolution,  had  said  he  would  vote  for 

Aiken  as  between  him  and  Banks.  I  have  but  little  doubt  that  Haven  would 
have  done  the  same  thing.  So  would  Cullen,  of  Delaware,  and  Barclay, 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  voted  '  No'  to-day.  These  four  would  have  carried 
the  election,  to  say  nothing  of  the  scattering.  As  it  is  now,  I  fear  the  fat 
is  all  in  the  tire,  but  hope  not.  In  a  resolution  to-day  to  make  Banks 
Speaker  he  got  102:  on  a  similar  resolution  Aiken  got  103,  even  with 
Cullen,  Barclay,  Haven,  and  Harrison  voting  against  him  ;  so  if  we  had 
then  been  under  the  plurality  rule,  Aiken  would  have  been  chosen." 

February  2d. — "The  plurality  rule  has  just  been  offered  by  Smith 
(Democrat).  I  am  in  the  House,  and  the  motion  has  been  made  since 
I  commenced  this  letter.  My  apprehension  is  that  all  has  been  lost  by 
yesterday' s  faux  pasS ' 

February  4th> — This  letter  is  so  blurred  as  to  be  almost  illegi 
ble.  It  speaks  of  the  election  of  Banks,  and  notes  that  this 
was  the  first  election  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  country 
that  was  purely  sectional.  The  course  of  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  election  is  highly  praised.  From  this  time  Mr.  Stephens 
acted  with  that  party. 

February  5th. — Linton  has  been  inquiring  about  some  money 
that  he  had  lent. 

"  You  asked  me  some  time  ago  if  D and  Y had  returned  me  the 

amount  I  lent  them.  Not  a  dime  of  it;  nor  have  I  ever  seen  or  heard  a 
word. from  either  of  them  since  I  lent  them  the  money,  except  that  two 

days  afterwards  Y was  here  in  this  city.     Cobb  had  lent  him  fifteen 

dollars,  and  Lumpkin,  I  believe,  as  much.  I  had  a  good  will  to  go  and 
have  the  wretch  arrested.  But  I  took  a  walk,  and  that  cooled  me  off.  I 
have  often  thought  I  never  would  let  another  mortal  have  money  under 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  3Q7 

any  circumstances  to  get  away  from  this  city  on.  It  was  a  rash  and  foolish 
resolve  on  my  part,  for  in  about  a  week  afterwards  a  very  clever,  frank, 
and  manly-looking  young  gentleman  called  on  me  about  three  o'clock  at 
night,  informing  me  of  the  very  unpleasant  situation  into  which  he  had 
unexpectedly  been  thrown.  His  name  was  Crawley ;  his  father  lived  in 
Richmond  County." 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  young  man's  misfortunes,. his 
getting  twenty  dollars,  and  his  turning  out  to  be  a  "  regular 
sharper."  This  was  no  uncommon  adventure  with  Mr.  Stephens, 
who,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  the  world,  was  liable  to  be  im 
posed  upon  by  any  sharper,  male  or  female,  that  could  tell  a 
plausible  story  and  appeal  to  his  benevolence.  But  not  all  the 
applicants  for  his  assistance  have  been  of  this  class,  and  he  has 
relieved  so  many  cases  of  real  distress,  which  probably  a  more 
suspicious  nature  would  have  turned  away,  that  he  has  been 
more  than  overpaid  for  the  mortification  of  finding  himself 
every  now  and  then  the  victim  of  a  swindler.  His  thoughts, 
however,  in  the  letter  before  us,  are  soon  diverted  from  this 
unpleasant  subject  by  the  memory  of  a  domestic  tragedy. 

"Harry  sends  me  word  that  my  old  white  cow  is  4ead.  Poor  old  soul ! 
She  went  to  jump  into  Billy  Bell's  field,  and  encountered  a  ditch  on  the 
other  side  of  the  field,  into  which  she  fell,  and  out  of  which  she  never  came 
alive.  She  got  her  head  up-stream,  dammed  up  the  water,  and,  Harry 
thinks,  drowned.  Another  motherless  calf  has  mourned  the  loss  of  an 
ill-fated  dam." 

March  5th. — "  I  made  a  decided  hit  in  the  House  to-day  by  reading  the 
minority  report  in  the  Kansas  election  case.  .  .  .  You  will  of  course  see 
the  report,  and  I  need  not  inform  you,  I  suppose,  that  I  drew  AVhitfield's 
paper,  which  is  part  of  it.  The  report  was  all  got  up  last  night  after  ten 
o'clock.  I  wrote  until  two  o'clock.  The  Committee,  I  mean  the  majority, 
acted  like  knaves.  They  would  not  let  us  see  nor  hear  what  to  examine 
at  all.  I  went  it  blindly,  and  wrote  what  you  see  under  the  circumstances 
related.  I  was  gratified  to  see  that  what  was  so  hastily  done  met  with 
such  favor.  I  tell  you  it  was  in  the  reading.  I  did  that  better  than  I  ever 
did  anything  of  the  kind  in  my  life." 

March  9th. — Account  of  a  dinner  at  a  Mr.  Sullivan's. 

"  The  only  objection  I  have  to  dining  with  him  is  that  he  always  gives 
his  dinner  on  Sunday.  But  his  company  is  generally  select,  and  I  have 
never  seen  anything  at  his  table  inconsistent  with  the  quiet  and  decorum 
which  are  becoming  to  the  day.  Still,  I  do  not  like  it." 


308  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 

Cobb  and  Ward  had  been  invited  to  dine  with  him,  but  were 
going  to  the  President's. 

"  By  the  way,  I  have  thought  it  a  little  strange  that  I  have  never  yet  but 
once  been  invited  (and  that  when  I  was  very  ill,  two  months  ago)  to  dine 
with  Pierce,  nor  have  I  yet  dined  with  a  single  member  of  his  Cabinet. 
Whether  I  have  been  omitted  by  intention  or  from  forgetfulness  I  do  not 
know  nor  do  I  care.  I  only  mention  the  fact  as  a  singular  one.  It  never 
occurred  with  any  previous  President,  not  excepting  Polk  or  his  Cabinet." 

In  connexion  with  the  dinners  at  Mr.  Sullivan's,  Mr.  Stephens 
occasionally  tells  this  anecdote :  While  the  adjustment  measures  of 
1850  were  pending  there  was  a  dinner  at  Mr.  Sullivan's, — on  a 
Sunday  as  usual, — at  which  Clay,  Toombs,  Hale,  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  other  prominent  actors  in  the  exciting  discussions  of 
the  day  were  present.  Mr.  Hale  was  then  in  the  Senate,  and 
with  all  his  talents  was  noted  as  something  of  a  wag.  In  the 
course  of  conversation,  Mr.  Clay,  with  great  earnestness,  made 
an  appeal  to  Hale  to  quit  the  agitation  of  the  Slavery  question. 
"  No  good,"  he  said,  "  can  come  of  it ;  there  is  nothing  practical 
or  useful  in  it;  it  only  tends  to  produce  ill  feeling  and  hinder 
the  prosperity  of  the  country."  Mr.  Hale,  with  an  arch  look, 
replied,  "  Mr.  Clay,  it  sent  me  to  the  Senate,  and  I  think  there 
is  something  in  that !" 

March  llth. — "I  have  just  come  from  the  House,  where  I  spoke  upon 
the  Kansas  election,  on  the  motion  to  empower  the  Committee  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers.  I  will  give  you  no  opinion  of  the  speech,  except  that 
I  did  not  disgrace  myself,  me  judice.  What  the  audience  thought  of  it 
I  shall  be  better  able  to  judge  when  I  see  the  papers.  I  received  many 
compliments,  but  they  are  so  cheap  here  I  do  not  regard  them  as  of  much 
importance.  I  had  a  large  audience  ;  the  largest  that  has  assembled  since 
the  House  was  organized  ;  galleries  full  and  crowded.  No  other  person  has 
drawn  anything  like  such  a  crowd.  ...  I  got  your  letter  this  morning. 
It  was  greeted  with  pleasure.  I  was  anxious  to  hear  from  you.  Poor 
Rio !  my  heart  yearned  for  him.  I  tell  you  the  truth,  I  almost  wept  when 
I  read  your  account  of  his  encounter  with  Bill  Alexander's  dog.  Not  that 
I  felt  great  apprehension  for  llio's  safety ;  but  I  feel  an  interest  in  that 
dog  that  I  never  did  in  the  inferior  animals,  and  never  shall  in  any  again, 
I  am  certain.  And  the  reason  of  it  is  mainly  on  account  of  his  attachment 
and  fidelity  to  me.  I  dream  of  him  frequently." 

About  the  1st  of  April  Mr.  Stephens  went  home,  and  returned 
to  Washington  on  May  2d. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  3Q9 

June  13th. — "  The  House  did  not  sit  to-day.  Butler  finished  Ins  reply 
to  Simmer  in  the  Senate.  Sumner  was  not  present,  as  I  hear.  Wilson, 
as  I  hear,  took  up  the  Massachusetts  side  of  the  vituperation,  for  debate 
it  was  not." 

June  14th. — "  We  have  some  news  here.  Stringfellow  has  got  to  the 
city  direct  from  Kansas.  I  have  not  seen  him  myself,  but  Toombs,  who 
left  me  just  now,  saw  him  last  night.  Stringfellow  is  our  main  man 
in  Kansas,  you  know.  According  to  Toombs's  report  all  things  are  now 
comparatively  quiet  there.  The  newspaper  reports  of  burnings  and  civil 
war  are  unfounded,  and  got  up  by  Northern  agitators  for  effect.  The 
hotel  at  Lawrence  was  presented  by  the  grand  jury  as  a  nuisance,  and 
ordered  to  be  demolished  as  such.  He  says  the  investigations  of  the  Com 
mittee  will  work  in  our  favor  greatly  when  published.  The  Committee 
will  be  here  this  wreek.  lie  says  they  want  no  more  men  in  Kansas ;  they 
want  no  fighting;  that  all  is  working  just  as  it  ought.  His  account,  in  a 
few  words,  is  better  than  I  expected." 

On  June  28th  the  question  before  the  House  was  the  bill 
providing  for  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State,  under  what 
was  called  the  "  Topeka  Constitution."  This  was  a  constitution 
drawn  up  by  the  Free-Soil  Party,  composed  chiefly  of  the 
emissaries  of  the  Emigrant  Aid  Societies,  and  it  not  only  pro 
vided  for  the  exclusion  of  slavery,  but  prohibited  negroes  or 
imilattoes  from  settling  in  the  State. 

On  this  question  Mr.  Stephens  addressed  the  House  at  con 
siderable  length.  He  reviewed  the  manner  in  which  the  Kansas 
Bill  had  passed,  and  showed  how  false  were  the  charges  that 
a  state  of  war  existed  in  Kansas,  or  that  what  few  disturbances 
had  occurred  \vere  due  to  the  Southern  party  there,  or  to  the 
Kansas  Bill.  He  showed  how  rumors  were  created,  or  facts 
exaggerated,  to  arouse  popular  feeling  and  create  agitation  at 
the  North,  for  party  purposes ;  and  how  those  who  breathed  fire 
and  slaughter  were  really  the  Northern  agitators,  and  no  others. 
He  then  examined  the  bill  before  the  House,  and  showed  that 
the  Topeka  Constitution  was  framed  in  open  opposition  to  law 
foy  men  with  arms  in  their  hands,  who  in  no  sense  represented 
ithe  bona-fide  settlers  of  the  Territory,  the  parties  who,  under  the 
Kansas  Bill,  were  the  persons  to  determine  the  policy  of  the  new 
I  State  with  reference  to  slavery.  Finally,  he  took  up  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  itself,  and  compared  the  position  of  the  negro  in 
the  South  with  his  position  in  the  North.  In  the  former  he  had 


310  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

a  recognized  place,  duties,  and  protection ;  in  the  North  he  was 
"  a  nondescript  outcast,  neither  citizen  nor  slave,  without  the 
franchise  of  a  freeman  or  the  protection  of  a  master."  In  con 
clusion  he  said : 

11  Gradation  is  stamped  upon  everything  animate  as  well  as  inanimate, — 
if,  indeed/'ihero  l>e  anything  inanimate.  A  scale,  from  the  lowest  degree 
of  inferiority  to  the  highest  degree  of  superiority,  runs  through  all  animal 
life.  We  see  it  in  the  insect  tribes,  we  see  it  in  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  the 
fowls  of  the  air,  in  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  we  see  it  in  the  races  of  men. 
We  see  the  same  principle  pervading  the  heavenly  bodies  above  us.  One  star 
differs  from  another  star  in  magnitude  and  lustre, — some  are  larger,  others 
are  smaller, — but  the  greater  and  superior  uniformly  influences  and  controls 
the  lesser  and  inferior  within  its  sphere.  If  there  is  any  fixed  principle  or 
law  of  nature  it  is  this.  In  the  races  of  men  we  find  like  differences  in 
capacity  and  development.  The  negro  is  inferior  to  the  white^mJ^  ;  nature 
has  made  him  so ;  observation  and  history,  from  the  remotest  nmes,"estab- 
lish  the  fact ;  and  all  attempts  to  make  the  inferior  equal  to  the  superior  are 
but  efforts  to  reverse  the  decrees  of  the  Creator,  who  has  made  all  things 
as  we  find  them,  according  to  the  counsels  of  His  own  will.  The  Ethiopian 
can  no  more  change  his  nature  or  his  skin  than  the  leopard  his  spots.  Do 
what  you  will,  a  negro  is  a  negro,  and  he  will  remain  a  negro  still.  In 
the  social  and  political  system  of  the  South  the  negro  is  assigned  to  that 
subordinate  position  for  which  he  is  fitted  by  the  laws  of  nature.  Our 
system  of  civilization  is  founded  in  strict  conformity  to  these  laws.  ^Order 
and  subordination,  according  to  the  natural  fitness  of  things,  is  the  prin 
ciple  upon  which  the  whole  fabric  of  our  Southern  institutions  rests. 

"Then  as  to  the  law  of  God. — that  law  we  read  not  only  in  His  works 
about  us,  around  us,  and  over  us,  but  in  that  inspired  Book  wherein  He 
has  revealed  His  will  to  man.  When  we  differ  as  to  the  voice  of  nature, 
or  the  language  of  God,  as  spoken  in  nature's  works,  we  go  to  that  gr<  at 
Book,  the  Book  of  books,  which  is  the  fountain  of  all  truth.  To  that 
Book  I  now  appeal.  God,  in  the  days  of  old,  made  a  covenant  with  the 
human  family  for  the  redemption  of  fallen  man :  that  covenant  is  the 
corner-stone  of  the  whole  Christian  system.  Abram,  afterwards  called 
Abraham,  was  the  man  with  whom  that  covenant  was  made.  He  was 
the  great  first  head  of  an  organized  visible  church  here  below.  He  be 
lieved  God,  and  it  was  accounted  to  him  for*  righteousness.  He  was  in 
deed  and  in  truth  the  father  of  the  faithful.  Abraham,  sir,  was  a  slave 
holder.  Nay,  more,  he  was  required  to  have  the  sign  of  that  covenant 
administered  to  the  slaves  of  his  household." 

MR.  CAMPBELL. — "  Pnge^rinp^a*»-«rJ^|e." 

MR.  STEPHENS. — "  I  have  one  here  which iftie  gentleman  can  consult 
if  he  wishes.  Here  is  the  passage,  Genesis  xvii.  13.  God  said  to 
Abraham : 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  31  1 

"'13.  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house,  and  he  that  is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs 
be  circumcised:  and  my  covenant  shall  be  in  your  flesh  for  an  everlasting  covenant.' 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  Abraham  was  not  only  a  slaveholder,  but  a  slavedealer  it 
seems,  for  he  bought  men  with  his  money,  and  yet  it  was  with  him  the 
covenant  was  made  by  which  the  world  was  to  be  redeemed  from  the 
dominion  of  sin.  And  it  was  into  his  bosom  in  heaven  that  the  poor  man 
who  died  at  the  rich  man's  gate  was  borne  by  an»els,  according  to  the  para 
ble  of  the  Saviour.  In  the  20th  chapter  of  Exodus,  the  great  moral  law  is 
found.  —  that  law  that  defines  sin,  —  the  Ten  Commandments,  written  by  the 
linger  of  God  Himself  upon  tables  of  stone.  In  two  of  these  command 
ments,  the  4th  and  10th,  verses  10th  and  17th,  slavery  is  expressly  recog 
nized,  and  in  none  of  them  is  there  anything  against  it;  this  is  the  moral 
law.  In  Leviticus  we  have  the  civil  law  on  this  subject,  as  given  by  Gud 
t  »  Moses  for  the  government  of  His  chosen  people  in  their  municipal  affairs. 
In  chapter  xxv.,  verses  44,  45,  and  46,  I  read  as  follows  : 

"'44.  Both  thy  bondmen,  and  thy  bondmaids,  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be 
of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you  ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and 
bondmaids. 

"  '45.  Moreover  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of 
them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your 
land:  and  they  shall  be  your  possession. 

\"'And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children  after  you,  to  inherit 
theittx  for  a  possession  ;  they  shall  be  your  bondmen  forever  :  but  over  your  brethren 
the  children  of  Israel,  ye  shall  not  rule  one  over  another  with  rigour.' 

"  This  Was  the  law  given  to  the  Jews  soon  after  they  left  Egypt,  for  their 
government  wlren  they  should  reach  the  land  of  promise.  They  could  have 
had  no  slaves  then*  It  authorized  the  introduction  of  slavery  among  them 
when  they  should  become  established  in  Canaan.  And  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  their  bondmen  and  bondmaids  to  be  bought,  and  held  for  a  possession 
and  an  inheritance  for  their  children  after  them,  were  to  be  of  the  heathen 
round  about  them.  Over  their  brethren  they  were  not  to  rule  with  rigor. 
Oor^Southern  system  is  in.&trict  conformity  with  this  injunction.  Men  of 
our  own  blood  and_our_own  race,  where  ver.born,  or.  from  whatever  clime  they 
comeT'are  free  and  equal.  We  have  no  castes  or  classes  among  white  men,  — 
no  'upper  t^njom^OT  '  lower  tendom.'  All  are  equals.  Our  slaves  were 
takenTrom  the  heathen  tribes,  —  the  barbarians  of  Africa.  In  our  households 
they  are  brought  within  the  pale  of  the  covenant,  under  Christian  teaching 
and  influence  ;  and  more  of  them  are  partakers  of  the  benefits  of  the  gospel 
than  ever  were  rendered  so  by  missionary  enterprise.  The  wisdom  of 
man  is  foolishness  ;  the  ways  of  Providence  are  mysterious.  Nor_  does 
the  negro  feel  nny  sensa-^g  -degradfttion  in  his  condition;  he  is  \\niilf.ijraded. 
and-£U&  th&  -same  gj*ade  or  rank  in  society  and  the.  State 


thjit  Jie_ilues-4«-  th«  scale  of  being;  it  is  his  natural  place;  and  all  things 
nt_when  nature's  great  first  law  of  order  is  conformed  to. 

"  Again  :  Job  was  certainly  one  of  the  best  men  of  whom  we  read  in 


312  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

the  Bible.  lie  was  a  large  slaveholder.  So,  too,  were  Isaac  and  Jacob, 
and  all  the  patriarchs.  But,  it  is  said,  this  was  under  the  Jewish  dispen 
sation.  Granted.  Has  any  change  been  made  since  ?  Is  anything  to  be 
found  in  the  New  Testament  against  it?  Nothing,  —  not  a  word.  Slavery 
existed  when  the  gospel  was  preached^  by  Christ  arid  His  Apostles,  and 
where  they  preached  :  it  was  all  around  them.  And  though  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  were  denounced  -toy  our  Saviour  for  their  hypocrisy  and 
robbing  'widows'  houses,'  yet  not  a  word  did  He  utter  against  slave- 
holding.  On  one  occasion  He  was  sought  for  by  a  centurion,  who  asked 
Him  to  heal  his  slave,  who  was  sick.  Jesus  said  He  would  go  ;  but  the 
centurion  objected,  saying,  '  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldest 
come  under  my  roof:  but  speak  the  word  only,  and  my  servant  shall  be 
healed.  For  I  am  a  man  under  authority,  having  soldiers  under  me  :  and 
I  say  to  this  man,  Go,  and  he  goeth  ;  and  to  another,  Come,  and  he  cometh  ; 

I  and  to  my  slave,  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it.'  Matthew  viii.  8,  9.  The  word 
rendered  here  '  servant,'  in  our  translation,  means  slave.  It  means  just  such 

\a  servant  as  all  our  slaves  at  the  South  are.     I  have  the  original  Greek." 

Here  the  hammer  fell.  Mr.  Stephens  asked  that  he  might  be 
permitted  to  go  on,  as  long  as  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr. 
Campbell]  had  taken  up  his  time.  He  had  but  a  little  more  to 
say.  Mr.  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  objected  ;  and  what  follows  is  the 
substance  of  what  he  intended  to  say,  if  he  had  not  been  cut  off 
by  the  hour-rule. 


"  The  word  in  the  original  is  (JovAo^  and  the  meaning  of  this  word,  as 
given  in  Robinson's  Greek  and  English  Lexicon,  is  this,  —  I  read  from  the 
book  :  '  In  the  family  the  dovho?  was  one  bound  to  serve,  a  slave,  and  was 
the  property  of  his  master,  —  "a  living  possession,"  as  Aristotle  calls  him.' 
And  again  :  '  The  om>Ao^  therefore,  was  never  a  hired  servant,  the  latter 
being  called  pafliof,'  etc.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  word,  as  given  by 
Robinson,  a  learned  doctor  of  divinity,  as  well  as  of  laws.  The  centurion 
on  that  occasion  said  to  Christ  Himself,  '  I  say  to  my  slave  do  this,  and  he 
doeth  it,  and  do  Thou  but  speak  the  word,  and  he  shall  be  healed.'  What 
was  the  Saviour's  reply?  Did  He  tell  him  to  go  loose  the  bonds  that  fet 
tered  his  fellow-man?  Did  He  tell  him  he  was  sinning  against  God  for 
holding  a  slave  ?  No  such  thing.  But  we  are  told  by  the  inspired  pen 
man  that: 

"  '  When  Jesus  heard  it,  he  marvelled,  and  said  to  them  that  followed,  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.  And  I  say  unto 
you,  That  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  the  children  of  the  kingdom 
shall  be  cast  out'  into  outer  darkness  :  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 
And  Jesus  said  unto  the  centurion,  Go  thy  way;  and  as  thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it 
done  unto  thee.  And  his  servant  [or  slave]  was  healed  in  the  selfsame  hour.' 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  313 

"Was  Christ  a  'doughface'?  Did  He  quail  before  the  slave-power? 
And  if  He  did  not  rebuke  the  lordly  centurion  for  speaking  as  he  did  of 
his  authority  over  his  slave,  but  healed  the  sick  man,  and  said  that  He  had 
not  found  so  great  faith  in  all  Israel  as  He  had  in  his  master,  who  shall 
now  presume,  in  His  name,  to  rebuke  others  for  exercising  similar  author 
ity,  or  say  that  their  faith  may  not  be  as  strong  as  that  of  the  centurion? 

'•In  no  place  in  the  New  Testament,  sir,  is  slavery  held  up  as  sinful. 
Several  of  the  Apostles  alluded  to  it,  but  none  of  them — not  one  of  them 
— mentions  or  condemns  it  as  a  relation  sinful  in  itself,  or  violative  of  the 
laws  of  God,  or  even  Christian  duty.  They  enjoin  the  relative  duties  of 
both  master  and  slave.  Paul  sent  a  runaway  slave,  Onesimus,  back  to 
Philemon,  his  master.  He  frequently  alludes  to  slavery  in  his  letters  to 
the  churches,  but  in  no  case  speaks  of  it  as  sinful.  To  what  he  says  in 
one  of  these  epistles  I  ask  special  attention.  It  is  1st  Timothy,  chapter 
6th,  and  beginning  with  the  first  verse  : 

" '  1.  Let  as  many  servants  [fioOAoi,  "  slaves,"  in  the  original,  which  I  have  before 
me]  as  are  under  the  yoke  [that  is,  those  who  are  the  most  abject  of  slaves]  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be 
not  blasphemed. 

"'2.  And  they  that  have  believing  masters,  [according  to  modern  doctrine,  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  slaveholding  believer;  so  did  not  think  Paul,]  let  them 
not  despise  [or  neglect  and  not  care  for]  them,  because  they  are  brethren ;  but  rather 
do  them  service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit. 
These  things  teach  and  exhort. 

u<3.  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words,  even  the 
words  of  our  Lord  Jeans  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness ; 

"  '  4.  lie  is  proud  [or  self -conceited,]  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  questions  and 
strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil  suruiisings. 

"<5.  Perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth,  sup 
posing  that  gain  is  godliness  :  from  such  withdraw  thyself.' 

"  This  language  of  St.  Paul,  the  Great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  is  just  as 
appropriate  this  day,  in  this  House,  as  it  was  when  he  penned  it,  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago.  No  man  could  frame  a  more  direct  reply  to  the  doc 
trines  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Giddings]  and  the  gentleman 
from  Indiana  [Mr.  Dunn]  than  is  here  contained  in  this  sacred  book. 
What  does  all  this  strife,  and  envy,  and  railings,  and  'civil  war1  in  Kansas 
come  from,  but  the  teachings  of  those  in  our  day  who  teach  otherwise  than 
Paul  taught,  and  'do  not  consent  to  wholesome  words,  even  the  words  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ'  ? 

"  Let  no  man,  then,  say  that  African  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  South,  in 
corporated  in  and  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  in 
violation  of  either  the  laws  of  nations,  the  laws  of  nature,  or  the  laws  of  God  ! 

"  And  if  it  '  must  needs  be'  that  such  an  offence  shall  come  from  this 
source  as  shall  sever  the  ties  that  now  unite  these  States  together  in  fra 
ternal  bonds,  and  involve  the  land  in  civil  war,  then  '  wo  be  unto  them 
from  whom  the  offence  cometh  !'  " 


314  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

On  July  20th  he  writes  to  Linton : 

•  "  This  morning's  mail  brought  me  letters  containing  the  sad  intelligence 
that  our  only  brother  was  no  more  on  earth.  I  am  truly  overwhelmed  with 
grief,  and  hardly  know  what  to  say  or  how  to  write  to  you  on  the  subject. 
The  truth  is  I  can  hardly  realize  the  fact.  .  .  .  This  day  week  I  wrote  him 
a  long  letter.  That  letter  I  am  informed  he  did  not  live  to  read  ;  it  reached 
his  office  the  day  after  his  eyes  were  sealed  in  death.  And  is  it  so  that  I 
shall  never  see  his  familiar  face  and  form  again  ?  ...  It  seems  to  me  now 
that  if  I  could  recall  any  unkind  word  or  look  I  may  have  given  him,  that 
it  would  afford  me  consolation.  But  this  cannot  be.  I  shall  go  home  as 
soon  as  I  can  leave  here.  I  did  intend  to  go  to  New  York  next  Saturday, 
but  that  is  out  of  the  question  now.  I  was  going  there  to  make  a  speech  5 
but  I  do  not  now  feel  as  if  I  could  make  any  speech  this  summer.  I  must 
see  after  the  family  of  my  poor  brother,  and  must  do  what  1  can  to  keep 
those  most  dear  to  him  from  want." 

Several  following  letters  show  how  greatly  he  suffered  at  his 
brother's  loss.  He  cannot  think  of  him  without  tears.  The 
family,  he  writes,  must  be  kept  together,  at  least  for  a  while. 
"  The  bitter  pangs  attending  the  breaking  up  of  a  family  I  re 
member  too  well  ever  to  advise  a  similar  course  when  it  can  be 
prevented." 

Before  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  a  close  friend 
ship  had  grown  up  between  Linton  Stephens  and  R.  M.  John 
ston,  and  they  had  been  law-partners  since  the  year  1854. 
This  connection  had  led  to  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  elder  brother;  and  it  was  in  this  year  (1856)  that  the  idea 
of  preparing  this  biography  was  first  conceived.  From  this 
time  a  correspondence  was  kept  up  with  Mr.  Stephens  relating 
to  the  events  of  his  life,  from  which  we  shall  henceforth  quote, 
as  well  as  from  that  with  Linton. 

The  first  letter  of  this  series  which  we  present  was  written 
at  Washington,  August  12th,  1856.  In  it  Mr.  Stephens  thus 
alludes  to  the  Presidential  candidates  of  that  year: 

"  I  see  from  the  papers  that  the  Fillmore  men  are  trying  hard  to  get  up 
a  movement  in  his  favor ;  but  I  cannot  think  it  will  amount  to  much. 
The  people  are  putting  the  issues  of  the  present  canvass  too  much  upon 
the  past  records  of  Fillmore  and  Buchanan.  Old  issues  are  past  and  dead. 
.  .  .  The  great  question  now  is :  how  do  those  gentlemen  stand  upon  the 
living  issues  of  the  day?  Mr.  Fillmore  was  and  is  against  the  Kansas 
Bill.  Nearly  all  his  friends  at  the  North  are  for  restoring  the  Missouri 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  315 

Restriction.  Mr.  Buchanan  has  approved  that  bill,  and  all  his  friends, 
North  and  South,  are  for  maintaining  its  principles  for  all  time  to  come. 
This  is  the  question.  The  position  of  Mr.  Fillmore  and  his  party  North, 
at  present,  is  not  much  better  for  the  South,  on  this  question,  than  that  of 
Fremont.  The  only  difference  between  him  and  Fremont  is  that  he  is  not 
so  rank  an  Abolitionist  in  his  tendencies  and  associations  as  Fremont. 
But  so  far  as  the  Kansas  Bill  is  concerned,  I  see  but  little  difference 
between  them.  Fremont's  election  would  bring  into  power  such  men 
as  Hale,  Wilson,  and  Co..  and  hence  is  much  more  to  be  deprecated 
than  the  election  of  Fillmore.  But  Fillmore  does  not  stand  the  ghost  of 
a  chance  before  the  people.  His  only  chance  is  in  this  Black  llepublican 
House,  and  that  is  a  slim  one." 

The  rest  of  the  correspondence  of  this  year  which  we  shall 
quote  is  to  Liuton. 

August  19th. — "  Much  to  my  disappointment  and  annoyance,  I  am  de 
tained  here.  An  extra  session  has  been  called.  It  was  a  most  unwise 
step,  in  my  opinion.  Indeed,  I  doubt  if  it  has  been  the  result  of  stupidity 
altogether.  ...  I  do  verily  apprehend  that  Mr.  Pierce  is  lapsing  back 
into  his  original  policy  in  regard  to  Kansas.  I  fear  the  cloven  foot  will  be 
shown  in  his  message.  It  will  be  part  of  my  earnest  efforts  to  prevent  such 
a  relapse  if  possible.  But  what  is  to  come  of  this  extra  session  the  Ruler 
above,  who  shapes  the  destinies  of  nations,  only  knows.  I  must  stay." 

August  22d. — "  We  have  just  taken  the  final  vote  on  the  motion  to  lay 
on  the  table  a  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote  of  the  House  by  which  they 
had  declared  their  adherence  to  their  proviso  scheme.  The  vote  was 
9G  to  lay  on  the  table  to  95  against  it.  One  vote  against  us.  This  is  the 
end  of  the  bill.  .  .  .  Seven  more  Southern  men  absent  than  Northern: 
that  is,  without  pairing.  If  our  men  had  stayed,  we  should  have  been 
triumphant  to-day.  On  several  votes  we  lost  two  to  three  Southern  men 
who  were  too  drunk  to  be  brought  in." 

August  23d. — "  We  may  reconsider  on  Monday  our  vote  whereby  we 
agreed  to  adhere  to  the  proviso.  And  if  so,  we  may  get  out  of  the  woods. 
But  I  am  enraged  at  the  last  vote.  Rust,  of  Arkansas,  was  out, — lost  his 
vote.  It  seems  impossible  to  keep  Southern  Representatives  in  their  seats. 
About  one-tenth  of  them  need  a  master.  If  our  men  had  all  been  here  to 
day  we  should  have  beaten  the  enemy  by  a  clear  majority  of  three." 

On  August  30th  Congress  adjourned.  Mr.  Stephens  at  the 
time  was  under  medical  treatment,  and  had  to  delay  his  de 
parture  for  a  few  days,  anxious  as  he  was  to  be  at  home.  He 
writes  on  August  31st : 

"  I  get  great  numbers  of  letters  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  urging  me  to  go  to  those  States  ;  but  not  a  line  from  home.  My 


316  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

intention  is  to  go  home  as  soon  as  I  can  get  there.  I  do  not  like  the  tone 
of  our  Georgia  papers.  It  makes  me  almost  despair  of  the  future  of  our 
section.  rTTefjjusLe  are  doomed  to  divisions  and  factions!)  I  cannot  believe, 
however,  tnat  the  Fillrnore  movement  can  result  in  anything  more  than  in 
sowing  seeds  of  mischievous  divisions  hereafter.  ...  I  understand  that 
the  Republicans  have  spent  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  Pennsyl 
vania.  These  merchants  of  the  North,  who  have  grown  rich  out  of  us, 
are  shelling  out  their  money  like  corn  now  to  oppress  us  j  and  yet  thou 
sands,  even  of  Georgians,  would  sing  hosannahs  at  the  triumph  of  our 


enemies 


Immediately  upon  his  return,  Mr.  Stephens  visited  the  family 
of  his  late  brother,  arranged  for  the  settlement  of  his  debts, 
and  bought  a  house  and  lot  in  Crawfordville  for  the  family. 

He  entered  into  the  political  campaign  with  his  usual  energy. 
In  the  course  of  it  an  angry  correspondence  sprang  up  between 
him  and  Mr.  B.  H.  Hill,  which  led  to  a  challenge  from  Mr. 
Stephens.  Mr.  Hill,  however,  declined  the  challenge. 

December^  15th. — He  writes  from  Washington  : 

\  ..."  I  have  been  urging  all  the  influences  I  could  bring  to  bear  upon 
^he  Supreme  Court  to  get  them  to  postpone  no  longer  the  case  on  the  Mis 
souri  Restriction  before  them,  but  to  decide  it.  They  take  it  up  to-day." 
[This  was  the  famous -lired  Scott  case,  decided  March  6th,  1857.]  "  If 
they  decide,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe  they  will,  that  the  restriction  was 
unconstitutional,  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  pass  it,  then  the  question, 
— the  political  question, — as  I  think,  will  be  ended  as  to  the  power  of  the 
people  in  their  Territorial  Legislatures.  It  will  be,  in  effect,  a  res  adjudicata. 
The  only  ground  upon  which  that  claim  of  power  can  then  rest  will  be 
General  Cass's  '  Squatter  Sovereignty'  doctrine  ;  that  is,  that  they  possess 
the  power,  not  by  delegation,  but  by  inherent  right ;  and  you  know  my 
opinion  of  that.'' 

December  30th. — In  his  letter  to  his  brother  of  this  date,  a 
faint  foreboding,  or  rather  the  idea  of  a  possibility,  finds  an 
expression,  which,  unlikely  as  it  seemed,  was  to  be  realized  long 
after. 

"If  you,"  he  says,  "were  to  be  called  hence,  my  existence  would  be 
miserable  indeed.  I  do  not  know  how  I  could  bear  it.  But  if  I  were  to 
be  called,  your  lot  would  not  be  so  bad.  You  have  other  reliances  for 
support  and  sustainment.  The  thought  that  by  possibility  I  may  be  de 
tained  on  the  stage  of  action  longer  than  you,  fills  me  with  the  deepest 
gloom." 


CHAPTEK    XXX. 

Adroit  Strategy  of  the  Kepublicans — Their  Eapid  Growth — The  Dred  Scott 
Case — Speech  on  the  President's  Message — Death  of  Mrs.  Linton  Ste 
phens — Sad  and  Solemn  Thoughts — Remarks  upon  Pickpockets — Mr. 
Douglas. 

THE  year  1857  opened  hopefully  for  the  friends  of  Constitu 
tional  Union.  The  passage  of  the  Kansas  Bill,  the  reduction  of 
the  tariff,  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan  on  a  platform  en 
dorsing  the  slavery  adjustment  of  1850,  and  the  Territorial  pol 
icy  of  1854,  all  seemed  to  indicate  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  the  people  to  reprobate  the  schemes  of  the  agitators  and  dis- 
unionists,  and  maintain  the  Union  on  principles  of  justice  and 
amity.  Yet  to  the  observant  eye  the  future  was  full  of  danger. 
The  agitators  were  indefatigable  in  action  and  inexhaustible  in 
resources.  Their  opposition  to  the  Territorial  policy  of  Con 
gress  had  given  them  a  taking  popular  cry,  and  a  platform  on 
which  all  could  agree,  and  on  which  they  had  organized  a  com 
bination  under  the  name  of  the  Republican  party,  which,  taking 
dexterous  advantage  of  a  fit  of  popular  irritation  against  the 
Mormons,  adroitly  coupled  Polygamy  with  Slavery  as  "twin 
relics  of  barbarism,"  and  asserted  the  right  of  Congress  to  pro 
hibit  both  in  the  Territories.  The  Presidential  election  showed 
the  rapid  strides  they  were  making.  In  1844  the  Abolitionists 
first  put  a  candidate  in  the  field  for  the  Presidency,  who  received 
a  popular  vote  of  nearly  65,000,  but  no  electoral  vote.  In  1848 
they  again,  under  the  name  of  Free-Soilers,  nominated  a  candi 
date,  who,  it  is  true  received  no  electoral  vote,  but  polled  a 
popular  vote  of  nearly  300,000.  In  1852  they  fell  off,  polling 
only  156,000  votes,  owing  to  the  general  satisfaction  that  was 
felt  at  the  Compromise  of  1850.  But  they  counted  safely  on 
the  irresistible  power  of  persistent  agitation.  The  election  of 
1856  showed  the  startling  result  of  an  electoral  vote  of  114,  or 

317 


318  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

eleven  States,  for  the  Republican  candidates.  It  was  easy  to 
see  that,  though  yet  in  the  minority,  this  party  was  increasing 
with  alarming  rapidity,  which,  unless  checked,  would  make  it 
triumphant  in  the  next  election.  The  spirit  of  sectionalism, 
also^had  borne  its  evil  fruit;  and  already  the  alliance  between 
the  Constitutional  parties  of  the  North  and  South,  the  only 
barrier  against  disunion,  was  being  weakened  by  jealousy  and 
Suspicion.  While  their  enemies  formed  a  compact  phalanx, 
unwearied  in  their  exertions,  these  were  growing  careless,  and 
beginning  to  divide  into  sections,  each  over-confident  in  itself 
and  suspicious  of  its  natural  allies.  The  doctrines  of  Know- 
Nothingisni  had  also  acted  as  a  powerful  solvent.  On  the  whole, 
the  situation,  apparently  hopeful,  was  full  of  peril, — peril  only 
to  be  averted  by  what  was  never  to  be  obtained :  a  firm  alliance 
of  all,  North  and  South,  who  desired  justice  to  all,  and  the 
Rights  of  the  States  preserved  in  the  Union,  under  a  strict 
construction  of  the  Constitution. 

We  resume  the  correspondence  with  Linton : 

January  1st,  1857. — u  I  send  you  my  New  Year's  salutation.  Eighteen 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  is  duly  registered.  When  I  gazed  for  the  first 
time  on  the  new-born  this  morning,  it  seemed  to  be  snugly  wrapped  in  a 
beautiful  mantle  of  snow.  .  .  .  To-day  I  send  you  the  speech  of  Curtis  on 
the  Dred  Scott  case  before  the  Supreme  Court.  The  speech  I  think  chaste, 
elegantTTorensic  ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  convincing.  The  case  is  yet  unde 
cided.  It  is  the  great  case  before  the  court,  and  involves  the  greatest 
questions,  politically,  of  the  day.  I  mean  that  the  questions  involved,  let 
them  be  decided  as  they  may,  will  have  greater  political  effect  and  bearing 
than  any  others  of  the  day.  The  decision  will  be  a  marked  epoch  in  our 
history.  I  feel  a  deep  solicitude  as  to  how  it  will  be.  (T?rom  what  I  hear, 
sub  rosa,  it  will  be  according  to  my  own  opinions  on  every  point,  as  ab 
stract  political  questions.";}  The  restriction  of  1820  will  be  held  to  be  un 
constitutional.  The  judges  are  all  writing  out  their  opinions,  I  believe, 
seriatim.  The  chief  justice  will  give  an  elaborate  one.  Should  this 
opinion  be  as  I  suppose  it  will,  '  Squatter  Sovereignty  speeches'  will  be 
upon  a  par  with  '  Liberty  speeches'  at  the  North  in  the  last  canvass." 

January  3d. — "  I  have  the  floor  to  make  a  speech  on  the  President's  mes 
sage.  I  suppose  Tuesday  will  be  as  soon  as  I  shall  speak.  Monday  is 
Resolution-and-Humbug-Day  generally.  .  .  .  The  late  election,  its  issues 
and  its  results,  will  be  my  theme." 

On  January  6th    he  delivered- the   speech   before  a    House 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  319 

densely  crowded,  both  floor  and  galleries,  by  an  eagerly  attentive 
audience.  He  began  by  alluding  to  the  great  crisis  through 
which  the  country  had  passed,  and  its  escape  from  immediate 
danger,  and  congratulating  "  the  House,  the  country,  and  even 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,*  against  your  will,  upon  our  safe  deliverance." 
He  then  refers  to  the  political  principles  which  had  triumphed 
in  the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan  on  the  Cincinnati  platform,— N 
the  principle  that  "  there  shall  be  no  Congressional  prohibition-' 
of  slavery  in  the  common  territory,"  and  the  principle  that 
"  new  States  arising  in  the  common  Territories  shall  be  admitted 
as  States,  either  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  inhabitants  may 
determine."  Alluding  to  the  Kansas  Bill,  he  took  occasion  to 
eulogize  its  Northern  supporters ;  for  in  the  midst  of  his  grati 
fication  at  the  success  just  gained,  he  was  not  blind  to  the  dan 
gers  that  still  threatened,  and  he  knew  4hat  the  only  hope  of  ..the 
South  in  the  Tin  ion  Iny  in  a  firm  alliance  with  the  Constitutional 


"I  know  something,''  he  says,  "of  the  difficulties  attending  its  passage 
[the  Kansas  Bill],  —  the  violence,  the  passion  and  fanaticism  evoked  against 
it.  I  well  remember  the  opinions  -then  given,  —  that  the  North  would  never 
submit  to  it  ;  and  that  the  seats  then  filled  by  those  who  voted  for  it  from 
that  section,  would  never  again  be  filled  by  men  of  like  sentiments.  By 
indignant  constituencies  such  members  were  to  be  driven  forever  from  the 
public  councils.  Forty-four  members  from  the  North  in  this  House  voted 
for  the  bill,  only  one  of  whom,  I  believe,  acted  with  its  enemies  in  the 
late  struggle  for  its  maintenance.  To  the  present  House,  owing  to  causes 
that  I  need  not  mention,  only  eighteen  were  returned  from  that  section  in 
favor  of  it.  This  was  matter  of  great  boast  at  the  time.  But,  sir,  to  the 
next  House  we  have  forty-nine  members  already  chosen  from  the  North 
at  the  late  elections  upon  the  distinct  issue  of  their  advocacy  of  this  bill. 
This  is  five  more  than  the  number  originally  for  it:  the  cause  jrroj 
-  weaker.  ,_  This  is  one  of  the  results  of  thelate  election 


particularly  gratifying  to  me  in  itself.  It  shows  what  men  of  nerve,  with 
fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  relying  upon  the  virtue,  intelligence,  loyalty, 
and  patriotism  of  the  people,  can  effect.  Language  would  fail  me  in  an 
attempt  to  characterize  as  they  deserve  those  sterling  and  noble  spirits 
who  bore  the  Constitutional  flag  in  the  North  against  the  popular  preju 
dice  and  fanaticism  of  the  people  of  their  own  section  in  this  contest. 
"  Sir,  it  is  an  easy  thing  for  a  man  to  drift  along  with  the  popular  cur- 


*  Hon.  N.  P.  Banks. 


320  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

rent.  Any  man  can  do  that.  Honors  thus  obtained  are  as  worthless  as 
they  are  cheap ;  but  it  requires  nerve — it  requires  all  the  elements  that 
make  a  man  to  stand  up  and  oppose  men  in  their  errors,  and  advocate 
truth  before  a  people  unwilling  to  hear  and  receive  it — to  speak  to  those 
who  '  having  ears,  hear  not,  and  having  eyes,  see  not.'  History  furnishes 
some  examples  of  this  sort :  but  the  history  of  the  world,  in  my  judgment, 
has  never  furnished  nobler  and  grander  specimens  of  this  virtue  than  the 
late  canvass  in  the  North.  When  a  man  discharges  his  duty  upon  any 
occasion,  he  deserves  respect  and  admiration  ;  but  when  a  man  discharges 
his  duty  against  the  prevailing  prejudices  of  those  around  him,  and  even 
against Jhis  own  natural  feelings  and  inclinations,  that  man  commands 
something  higher  than  respect  and  admiration.  The  elder  Brutus,  who 
sat  in  judgment  and  pronounced  sentence  against  his  own  son,  silencing 
the  adverse  promptings  of  a  father's  heart,  made  himself  'the  noblest 
Roman  of  them  all'  •,  and  those  statesmen  at  the  North  to  whom  I  allude, 
who  had  the  nerve,  in  the  crisis  just  passed,  to  stand  up  and  vindicate  the 
right,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed,  give  to  the 
world  an  instance  of  the  niaml-siiblime  in  human  action  never  surpassed 
before.  Our  history  furnishes  no  parallel  with  it.  They  bore  the  brunt 
of  the  fight.  •  To  them  the  preservation  of  the  Republic  is  due  ;  and  if  our 
Republic  proves  not  to  be  ungrateful,  they  will  receive  patriots'  rewards, — 
more  to  be  desired  than  monuments  of  brass  or  marble, — honored  names 
while  living,  and  honored  memories  when  dead." 

/  After  showing  that  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  Bill,  which  the 
Northern  agitators  had  denounced  as  an  insult  to  their  section, 
was  framed  in  strict  conformity  with  the  Utah  and  New  Mexico 
Bills  and  the  settlement  of  1850,  he  touches  the  topic  of  "squatter 
sovereignty/7  a  name  which  had  been  given  to  the  doctrine  that 
the  people  of  a  Territory  possess  sovereign  powers  previous  to 
their  organization  into  a  State,  and  independently  of  any  action 
of  Congress,*  and  shows  that  no  such  doctrine  is  implied  in  the 
Kansas  Bill.  He  then  proceeds  thus : 

*  The  rational  and  logical  doctrine,  at  least  from  an  American  point  of 
view,  would  seem  to  be  this,  that  any  community  has  the  right  to  change 
its  form  of  government,  and,  if  a  territory,  province,  or  other  dependency, 
to  organize  itself  into  a  sovereign  and  independent  State ;  and  by  such 
action  and  organization  it  does,  ipso  facto,  so  become.  This  is  simply  the 
universally-admitted  right  of  revolution.  Now  if  this  action  be  forcibly 
resisted  by  the  power  of  which  it  has  declared  itself  independent,  the  ques 
tion,  not  of  its  independence,  but  of  its  ability  to  maintain  that  independ 
ence,  comes  to  be  tested,  and  if  adversely  decided,  the  new  State  lapses  once 
more  into  dependency,  and  loses  its  sovereignty  by  the  submission  of  its 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  321 

"  But  the  practical  point,  looking  to  the  probable  prospect  of  any  of 
these  Territories  becoming  slave  States,  dwindles  into  perfect  insignificance 
in  view  of  the  principle  involved.  That  principle  is  one  of  Constitutional 
rigkLand  equity.  Its  surrender  carries  with  it  submission  to  unjust  and 
unconstitutional  legislation,  the  sole  object  of  which  would  be  to  array 
this  Government,  which  claims  our  allegiance,  in  direct  hostility,  not  only 
to  our  interests,  but  the  very  frame-work  of  our  political  organizations. 
Who  looked  to  the  practical  importance  of  the  '  Wilmot  Proviso'  to  the 
South  in  1850,  when  it  was  attempted  to  be  fixed  upon  New  Mexico  and 
Utah,  with  half  so  much  interest  as  they  did  to  the  principle  on  which  it 
was  founded?  It  was  the  principle  that  was  so  unyieldingly  resisted 
then.  It  was  this  principle,  or  the  threatened  action  of  Congress  based 
upon  it,  which  the  whole  South,  with  a  voice  almost  unanimous,  including 
the  gentleman  himself  [Mr.  II.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky],  then  said,  '  They 
would  not  and  ought  not  to  submit  to!"1  Principles,  sir,  are  not  only  out 
posts,  but  the  bulwarks  of  all  constitutional  liberty ;  and  if  these  be 
yielded  or  taken  by  superior  force,  the  citadel  will  soon  follow.  A  p^pjgle 
wjip  would ..maintauaJheir :.. rights Lmust  look  to  principles  much  more  than 
to  practical  results.  Thejmdependence  of  the  United  States  was  declared 
and  established  in  the  vindication  of  an  abstractjmnciple.  Mr.  Webster 
never  uttered  a  groat  truth  in  simpler  language — for  which  he  was  so 
distinguished — than  when  he  said,  'The  American  Revolution  was  fought 
on  a  preamble.'  It  was  not  the  amount  of  the  tax  on  tea,  but  the  asser 
tion  (in  the  preamble  of  the  bill  taking  off  the  tax)  of  the  right  in  the 
British  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonies,  without  representation,  that  our 
fathers  resisted  ;  and  it  was  the  principle  of  unjust  and  unconstitutional 
Congressional  action  against  the  institutions  of  all  the  Southern  States  of 
this  Union  that  we,  in  1850,  resisted  by  our  votes,  and  would  have  re 
sisted  by  our  arms  if  the  wrong  had  been  perpetrated.  Those  from  the 

people.  But  it  it  an  error  to  suppose  that  revolution  is  of  necessity  accom 
panied  by  violence,  or  must  be  resisted  by  the  supreme  power.  In  the  rela 
tions  of  the  United  States  with  their  Territories,  provision  is  expressly  made 
for  accomplishing  this  act  of  revolution  peacefully,  and  indeed  with  encour 
agement.  So  soon  as  the  population  of  a  Territory  have  reached  a  certain 
numerical  proportion  they  organize  themselves  into  a  State,  and  by  so  doing 
become  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  State.  Their  subsequent  appli 
cation  for  admission  into  the  Union  of  States  is  a  voluntary  act  on  the  part 
of  the  new  State;  but  it  is  the  condition  on  which  the  United  States  agree 
to  acknowledge  the  new  State  as  an  independpnt  State.  If  this  condition 
were  not  complied  with,  the  United  States  would  have  the  right  to  compel 
its  observance  by  force,  or  use  force  to  reduce  the  new  State  to  its  former 
Territorial  condition.  Thus  the  organization  of  a  Territory  into  a  sovereign 
State  is  a  simple  act  of  revolution  ;  a  revolution  to  which  no  resistance  is 
offered  by  the  mother-country  (the  other  States  conjointly)  provided  certain 
conditions  are  complied  with.  k 

21 


322  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

South  who  supported  the  New  Mexico  and  Utah  Bills  did  so  because  this 
principle  of  Congressional  restriction  was  abandoned  in  them.  It  was 
not  from  any  confidence,  in  a  practical  point  of  view,  that  these  Territories 
ever  would  be  slave  States.  The  great  constitutional  and  essential  right 
to  be  so  if  they  chose  was  secured  to  them.  That  was  the  main  point. 
This,  at  least,  was  the  case  with  myself;  for  when  I  looked  out  upon  our 
vast  Territories  of  the  West  and  Northwest  I  did  not  then,  nor  do  I  now, 
consider  that  there  was  or  is  much  prospect  of  many  of  them,  particularly 
the  latter,  becoming  slave  States.  Besides  the  laws  of  climate,  soil,  and 
productions,  there  is  another  law  not  unobserved  by  me,  which  seemed  to 
be  quite  as  efficient  in  its  prospective  operations  in  giving  a  different  char 
acter  to  their  institutions,  and  that  is  the  law  of  population.  There  were, 
at  the  last  census,  nearly  twenty  millions  of  whites  in  the  United  States, 
and  only  a  fraction  over  three  millions  of  blacks,  or  slaves.  The  stock 
from  which  the  population  of  the  latter  class  must  spring  is  too  small  to 
keep  pace  in  diffusion,  expansion,  and  settlement  with  the  former.  The 
ratio  is  not  much  greater  than  one  to  seven,  to  say  nothing  of  foreign  im 
migration  and  the  known  facts  in  relation  to  the  tardiness  with  which 
jiLave  population  is  pushed  into  new  countries  and  frontier  settlements. 
(Hence  the  greater  importance  to  the  South  of  a  rigid  adherence  to  princi- 
'  pies  on  this  subject  vital  to  them.  If  the  slightest  encroachments  of  power 
are  permitted  or  submitted  to  in  the  Territories  they  may  reach  the  States 
ultimately.  And  although  I  looked,  and  still  look,  upon  the  probabilities 
of  Kansas  being  a  slave  State,  as  greater  than  I  did  in  the  case  of  New 
Mexico  and  Utah.Qret  I  voted  for  the  bill  of  1854  with  the  view  of  main- 
taining  the  principle  much  more  than  I  did  to  such  practical  results}  As 
a  Southern  man,  considering  the  relation  wincn~The~  African  benflfto  the 
white  race  in  the  Southern  States  as  the  very_besi  condition  for  tlie-grealest 
good  of  Jioth  ;  and  as  a  national  man,  looking  to  the  best  interests  .of  the 
country,  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  whole  by  a  preservation  j?f  the 
balance  of  power,  as  far  as  can  be  (for,  after  a^L,  the  surest  check  to 
encroachments  is  the  inability  to  make  them)^I  should  prefer  to  see 
Kansas  come  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  State;  but  it  was  not  with  tlje 

fview  or  purpose  of  effecting  that  result  that  I  voted  for  the  Kansas  Bill, 
any  more  than  it  was  with  the  view  or  purpose  of  accomplishing  similar 
results  as  to  New  Mexico  and  Utah  that  I  supported  the  measures  of  1850. 
It  was  to  secure  the  right  to  come  in  as  a  slave  State,  if  the  people  there 
so  wished,  and  to  maintain  a  principle  which  I  then  thought,  and  still 
think,  essential  to  the  peace  of  the  country  and  the  ultimate  security  of 
the  rights  of  the  South." 

;    After  alluding  to  the  misrepresentations  of  those  opposed  to 
he  Kansas  Bill,  who  had  asserted  that  the  question  at  issue  was 
vhether  Kansas  should  be  a  slave  State  or  a  free  State, — a  con 
test  between  freedom  and  slavery ;  whereas  it  really  was  the  far 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  IL  STEPHENS.  323 

more  important  question  whether  the  people  of  Kansas  had  or 
(  had  not  the  right  to  determine  the  former  question  for  theru- 
j  selves,  at  the  proper  time,  uuinterfered  with  by  Congress, — he 
(thus  concludes : 

|  "  Its  passage  was  not  a  triumph  of  the  South  over  the  North,  further 
•  than  a  removal  of  an  unjust  discrimination  against  her  people,  and  a 
>/  restoration  of  her  constitutional  equality  maybe  considered  a  triumph. 
To  this  extent  it  was  a  triumph;  but  njX-seetianal  triumph.  It^was  a 
_  C,  ^  tiTurn^h_of^ the  Constitution.  It  was  a  triumph  that  enhanced  the  value 
y.  ^eljth^UnionTnT  the  Estimation  of  the  people  of  the  South.  The  restriction 
of  182(Thad  'been  for  many  years  in  the  body  politic  as  a  '  thorn  in  the 
flesh,'  producing  irritation  at  every  touch.  On  the  principles  upon  which 
it  was  adopted  (reluctantly  accepted  as  an  alternative  at  the  time  by  them) 
the  South  would  have  been,  and  was  willing  to  acquiesce  in  and  adhere  to 
it  in  1850.  But  it  was  then  repudiated,  again  and  again,  by  the  North,  as 
was  shown  by  me  in  this  House  on  a  former  occasion.  The  idea  of  its 
having  been  a  sacred  compact,  or  being  in  any  way  binding,  was  scouted 
at  and  ridiculed  by  those  who  have  raised  such  a  clamor  on  that  score 
/since.  This  thorn  was  removed  in  1850.  The  whole  country  seemed  to 
j  be  relieved  by  it.  It  would  have  been  completely  relieved  by  it  but  for 
Vthejate  attempt  to  thrust  back  this  thorn.  This  attempt  has  been  signally 
rebuked.  And  may  we  not  now  look  to  the  future  with  hopes — well- 
grounded  hopes — of  permanent  repose?  Repose  is  what  we  want.  With 
that  principle  now  established,  that  each  State  and  separate  political 
community  in  our  complicated  system  is  to  attend  to  its  own  affairs,  with 
out  meddling  with  those  of  its  neighbors,  and  that  the  General  Government 
is  to  give  its  care  and  attention  only  to  such  matters  as  are  committed  to 
its  charge,  relating  to  the  general  welfare,  peace,  and  harmony  of  the 
whole,  what  is  there  to  darken  or  obscure  the  prospect  of  a  great  and 
prosperous  career  before  us?  Men  on  all  sides  speak  of  the  Union  and 
its  preservation  as  objects  of  their  desire ;  and  some  speak  of  its  dissolu 
tion  as  impossible, — an  event  that  will  not  be  allowed  under  any  circum 
stances.  To  such  let_jne__gny  that-,  f.hift  TTnion  can  only  be_ preserved  by 
conforming  to  the  laws  of  its  existence.  When  these  laws  are  violated, 
like  aTl  otheForgahisms,  either  political  or  physical,  vegetable  or  animal, 
dissolution  will  be  inevitable.  The  laws  of  this  political  organism — the 
union  of  these  States — are  well  defined  in  the  Constitution.  From  this 
springs  our  life  as  a  people.  If  these  be  violated,  political  death  must 
ensue.  The  Union  can  never  be  preserved  by  force,  or  by  one  section 
attempting  to  rule  the  other. 

"The  principle  on  this  sectional  controversy,  established  in  1850,  carried 
out  in  1854,  and  affirmed  by  the  people  in  1856,  I  consider,  Mr.  Speaker, 
as  worth  the  Union  itself,  much  as  I  am  devoted  to  it,  so  long  as  it  is 
devoted  to  the  objects  for  which  it  was  formetT.  And  in  devotion  to  it,  so 


324  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

long  as  these  objects  are  aimed  at,  I  yield  to  no  one.  To  maintain  its 
integrity, — to  promote  its  advancement,  development,  growth,  power,  and 
renown,  in  accomplishing  those  objects,  is  my  most  earnest  wish  and 
desire.  To  aid  in  doing  this  is  my  highest  ambition.  These  are  the 
impulses  of  that  patriotism  with  which  I  am  imbued  ;  and  with  me 

'All  thoughts,  all  passions,  all  delights, 

Whatever  stirs  this  mortal  frame, 
All  are  but  ministers  of  love, 
And  feed  this  sacred  flame.' 

But  the  constitutional  rights  and  equality  of  the   States  must  be  pre- 
|  served/' 

January  1,5th. — Mrs.  Lin  ton  Stephens  has  been  dangerously 
sick  since  the  birth  of  her  child.  Alexander  writes  in  great 
anxiety,  and  begs  his  brother  to  bear  with  patience  whatever 
Providence  may  have  in  store.  The  letter  thus  closes  : 

"  May  lie  who  rules  over  us  and  shapes  our  destinies  guard  and  protect 
you,  watch  over  and  protect  her  who  always  puts  trust  in  Him !  I  write 
this  in  the  House  in  the  midst  of  confusion.  I  can  only  say,  God  be  with 
you,  and  be  merciful  to  you  in  sparing  her  who  is  so  dear  to  you,  and 
whose  speedy  recovery  is  my  earnest  desire  and  prayer." 

January  18jh. — Mrs.  Linton  Stephens  had  died,  and  he  had 
been  informed  of  the  death  by  a  letter  from  a  friend. 

11 1  do  wish  I  had  been  there  ;  not  only  that  I  might  have  seen  her  once 
more  in  this  life,  but  that  I  might  have  mingled  my  sorrow  with  yours, 
and  thus  have  afforded  you  at  least  the  small  comfort  of  the  sympathy  of 
a  heart  not  unused  to  the  bitterest  pangs  that  life  can  bear.  Few  mortals 
have  suffered  more  than  I  have ;  and  few  that  see  me  and  associate  with 
me  daily,  have  a  conception  of  what  torture  and  misery  I  endure.  But 
of  all  the  sufferings  I  have  ever  yet  been  subjected  to,  the  loss  of  dear 
ones  is  the  worst.  This  is  like  cutting  the  very  heart-strings  of  life.  I 
felt  it  on  the  death  of  our  dear  father,  whose  dead  form  now  lies  stretched 
before  me  in  my  mind's  eye.  Then  my  cup  of  grief  was  near  running 
over.  One  more  drop,  and  I  should  have  sunk  and  died  under  it.  I  felt 
something  of  the  same  upon  the  death  of  my  brother  Grier.  These  were 
the  most  severe  trials  of  my  life.  I  have  felt  deep  grief  upon  many  other 
occasions  5  but  on  those,  the  very  nerves  of  my  life  were  touched.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  you  have  felt,  or  do  now  feel,  that  deep  agony  of  the  soul 
that  I  then  felt.  Oh,  how  I  sympathize  with  you,  and  how  I  wish  I  could 
be  with  you  !  I  think  of  you  day  and  nigh£.  If  I  were  not  afraid  of 
being  detained  on  the  road  in  exposure  that  would  jeopard  my  life,  I 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  305 

would  go  immediately  to  see  you.  But  such  is  the  condition  of  the  roads, 
I  fear  to  start.  The  appearance  this  morning  indicates  another  snow 
before  to-morrow.  I  to-day  raised  blood  upon  coughing.  ...  I  want  to 
see  you  and  talk  to  you.  But  as  this  is  impossible  at  present,  let  us 
commune  as  often  on  paper  as  we  can.  May  Heaven  watch  over,  guard, 
and  protect  you !" 

February  1st. — Another  long  letter  of  condolence,  concluding 
thus : 

"  Mr.  Toombs  has  just  come  in,  and  I  must  close.  He  feels  deeply  for 
you.  In  speaking  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Brooks  the  other  day  in  the  Senate, 
he  broke  out  in  weeping  and  had  to  stop.  I  never  saw  him  shed  tears  be 
fore.  His  heart  was  full  and  ran  over.  He  had  heard  the  day  before  of 
sister  Em's  death,  and  it  seemed  to  me  then,  when  I  told  him,  that  it 
had  a  peculiar  effect  upon  him.  His  whole  soul  seemed  to  be  touched." 

About  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  paid  a  visit  to  his  bereaved 
brother,  and  there  is  a  break  in  the  correspondence.  After  his 
return  he  wrote  very  frequently,  letters  full  of  sympathy  and 
consolation.  Fearing  lest  Liu  ton  may  let  despondency  prey 
upon  him,  as  his  letters  seem  to  forebode,  those  of  Alexander 
have  a  more  decidedly  religious  cast,  and  the  teachings  and 
promises  of  the  Christian  faith  are  a  frequent  theme,  and  are 
urged  upon  his  brother  with  a  solemn  and  reverent  tenderness. 
He  once  or  twice  alludes  to  his  own  severe  and  manifold  trials, 
as  in  the  following  passage : 

"  No  mortal  has  ever  had  more  reason  to  despair — to  curse  his  fate  and 
die — than  I  have  had ;  and  few  men,  I  imagine,  have  ever  suffered  more 
deeply  and  intensely.  I  have  sometimes  been  on  the  very  brink  of  despair  : 
but  I  have  borne  all,  and  believe  that  I  am  better  in  consequence.  Out  of 
the  very  bitterest  weeds  of  life  I  draw  sweetness  and  consolation  ;  out  of 
disappointments,  crosses,  and  ills  I  extract  comfort  and  hope.  .  .  .  The 
subject  of  the  condition  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  whether  they  are  in  a 
conscious  state  or  not,  whether  or  not  they  are  permitted  to  look  on  and 
see  what  we  the  survivors  are  doing,  was  once  a  matter  of  most  perplexing 
thought  to  me.  But  these  are  matters  not  intended  for  mortals  to  know ; 
and  no  good  can  come  of  thinking  upon  them.  It  is  sufficient  for  me  to 
be  resolved  that  if  the  spirits  of  those  most  dear  to  me  when  living,  who 
are  now  departed,  do  look  on  and  see  what  I  am  doing,  they  will  be  grati 
fied  at  what  I  do  or  try  to  do.  In  my  severest  grief  for  the  death  of  friends, 
the  best  consolation  I  ever  had  was  the  reflection  that  those  friends  would 
be  pained  to  know  that  I  was  suffering  so  much  on  their  account.  This 
thought  has  checked  many  a  sigh  and  tear.  .  .  .  Father  told  me,  two  nights 


326  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H<   STEPHENS. 

before  he  died,  that  he  thought  he  should  die.  We  were  alone,  and  he 
talked  a  long  time  with  me.  He  enjoined  upon  me  how  I  should  act  in 
case  he  died.  All  my  energy  came  from  those  dying  injunctions.  At 
least  in  my  greatest  grief,  a  resolve  to  perform  them  was  the  ruling  pas 
sion  that  prevailed.  And  it  is  a  ruling  passion  with  me  yet.  His  memory 
I  can  never  forget.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  I  should  never  have  been 
happy  since  his  death  had  it  not  been  for  the  reflection  that  he  would 
take  pleasure  in  seeing  me  happy.  And  now  again  good-by.  May  God, 
the  God  of  our  common  father,  protect  and  sustain  you  and  make  you  still 
useful  and  happy  in  your  day  and  generation  !" 

His  brother  seemed  drawn  even  closer  than  before  to  his  heart 
by  this  sorrow.  His  letters  of  sympathy  never  cease,  whether 
he  be  at  home  or  travelling.  His  thoughts,  he  says,  by  day  and 
night,  and  even  his  dreams,  are  of  his  brother.  On  the  15th  of 
June  he  writes  : 

"  I  have  no  object  on  earth  but  you  and  your  happiness  to  engross  my 
mind.  I  am  thinking  of  you  nearly  all  the  time.  Business  I  have  to 
attend  to,  but  in  business,  at  home  or  abroad,  you  are  in  my  mind." 

This  year  Linton  Stephens  was  again  a  candidate  for  Con 
gress,  his  opponent  being  the  Hon.  Joshua  Hill.  Alexander 
took  a  warm  interest  in  his  brother's  canvass,  and  made  several 
speeches,  in  his  district.  Linton,  however,  was  beaten  at  the 
election  by  about  the  same  majority  as  in  1855. 

Alexander  left  for  Washington  in  the  latter  part  of  Novem 
ber,  and  while  on  the  cars  had  his  pocket-book  stolen,  containing 
some  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  money,  and  about  twenty 
thousand  dollars  in  promissory  notes  belonging  to  himself  and 
clients.  The  book  and  papers  were  recovered  in  a  few  hours, 
but  the  money  was  gone. 

On  November  29th  he  writes  from  Washington : 

"  I  called  on  Cobb,  and  found  him  well,  and  apparently  in  good  spirits. 
He  is  to  come  round  here  to-night.  The  Administration  have  staked  their 
all  upon  sustaining  the  Kffnsas  Constitution,  as  it  may  be  ratified.  Walker 
is  here}  and  is  going  to  break  with  them.  Forney  will  back  Walker,  but 
I  hear  of  no  other  disaffection  at  present." 

December  1st. — He  again  alludes  to  the  loss  of  the  pocket-book, 
in  which,  besides  money  and  notes,  there  were  several  land- 
warrants  belonging  to  poor  constituents. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   If.   STEPHENS.  327 

"I  was  truly  lucky  in  recovering  the  pocket-book;  and  luckier  still  in 
not  losing  it  before  I  had  paid  out  the  large  amounts  I  had  taken  down 
with  me.  The  truth  is,  I  did  not  feel  very  uneasy  about  the  papers.  I 
felt  sure  they  would  not  be  destroyed.  Those  pickpockets,  after  all,  are 
a  downright  clever  honest  sort  of  people  in  their  way.  They  have  no 
malice.  They  commit  no  wanton  destruction  of  property.  They  take  the 
money, — that  is  all  they  are  after.  I  have  a  sort  of  kindly  feeling  towards 
them,  particularly  since  they  saved  me  all  my  papers,  including  the  land- 
warrants,  that  I  had  counted  as  a  dead  loss.  .  .  .  Everything  here  is  in 
a  better  condition  than  I  feared  it  would  be.  (The  Administration  is  for 
the  Kansas  Constitution,  and  I  think  the  Northern  Democrats  will  gen 
erally  be  so  too.).  .  .  Orr  will  be  Speaker.  I  have  forbidden  my  name  to 
be  used  in  corfnexion  with  the  office.  Orr  is  for  the  Kansas  Constitution, 
and  on  that  line  I  am  for  organizing  the  House,  with  as  much  harmony 
as  possible.  The  signs  are  now  good ;  but  perhaps,  like  a  bright  May 
morning,  the  horizon  may  soon  be  closed  in  by  clouds  portending  storm. 
I  was  glad  to  hear  that  old  Mat  [an  old  servant]  was  better.  Poor  old 
woman  !  When  I  left,  I  thought  she  was  low-spirited  and  rather  hysteri 
cal." 

December  J}ih. — "  I  have  seen  Douglas  twice.  He  is  against  us :  decid 
edly,  but  not  extravagantly,  as  I  had  heard.  He  puts  his  opposition  on 
the  ground  that  the  Kansas  Constitution  is  not  fairly  presented.  He  looks 
upon  it  as  a  trick,  etc.  His  course,  I  fear,  will  do  us  great  damage.  The 
Administration  say  they  will  be  firm.  He  and  they  will  come  into  open 
hostility,  I  fear.  ...  I  felt  sanguine  four  days  ago :  now  I  hardly  know 
what  sort  of  feelings  to  indulge  in.  It  is  said  that  all  Pennsylvania,  New 
York,  and  Connecticut  will  stand  firm,  even  against  Douglas  ;  but  I  doubt." 

December  25tji. — "  This  morning  I  got  your  letter  of  the  20th,  the  one 
in  which  you  spoke  of  Rio,  and  told  me  he  had  been  howling,  off  and  on. 
all  the  evening.  Poor  dog !  How  that  news  affected  me !  I  wonder  if 
he  was  howling  for  his  master. — if  he  was  grieving  for  my  absence.  The 
thought  that  he  might  be  touched  me  deeply,  and  made  me  sad.  I  have 
been  sad  all  day.  .  .  .  Mr.  Toombs  reached  here  this  morning.  He  called 
up  soon ;  but  notwithstanding  all  his  hilarity  and  flow  of  spirits,  I  could 
not  drive  off  the  melancholy  which  the  thought  of  my  poor  dog's  howling 
for  me  produced." 


CHAPTEE    XXXI. 

Kansas  again — Walker  the  Filibuster — Interview  with  the  President — "  A 
Battle-Royal" — Defection  of  Southern  Know-Nothings — A  Hard  Struggle 
— Intense  Anxiety — Kansas  Bill  passes  both  Houses — Speech  on  the 
Admission  of  Minnesota — A  Bird  of  Ill-omen—British  War-Steamer 
Styx — A  Reception  at  Athens — The  Orator  in  a  Panic — A  Summer  Tour 
— No  Desire  for  the  Presidential  Nomination— Visit  to  President  Buch 
anan. 

IN  December,  1857,  Kansas  had  applied  for  admission  as  a 
State  under  what  was  called  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  In 
the  formation  and  ratification  of  this  the  Free-Soil  partisans  in 
the  Territory  had  taken  no  part,  their  plan  being  to  form  a  sepa 
rate  constitution  in  conformity  with  their  views.  The  admission 
of  Kansas  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the  expedition 
sent  to  enforce  the  execution  of  the  laws  in  the  Territory  of 
Utah, — popularly  known  as  the  Mormon  War, — and  Walker's 
filibustering  movements  in  Nicaragua,  were  the  topics  of  interest 
and  excitement  in  the  early  part  of  this  session. 

On  January  3d,  1858,  he  writes  to  Lin  ton : 

"  We  have  no  news.  The  Walker  and  Paulding  imbroglio  just  now 
embarrasses  us.  Our  sympathies  are  all  with  the  filibusters.  We  do  not 
agree  with  the  Administration  on  this  Central  American  question  ;  but  if 
we  denounced  it  as  we  feel  it  deserves  to  be,  we  endanger  their  support  of 
our  views  of  the  Kansas  question.  This  we  fear.  The  strength  of  that 
question  in  the  North  lies  in  its  being  an  Administration  measure ;  but  if 
we  of  the  South  oppose  the  Administration  on  one  question,  it  affords  a 
pretext  for  men  of  the  North  to  oppose  it  on  another,  and  yet  be  good  party 
men.  In  this  way  the  question  embarrasses  us.  .  .  .  We  meet  to-morrow, 
and  shall  have  a  great  deal  of  steam  and  gas  let  off,  I  expect,  upon  all 
sorts  of  questions.  At  present  our  count  on  the  Kansas  question  is  :  two 
from  Connecticut,  ten  from  New  York,  three  from  New  Jersey,  twelve 
from  Pennsylvania,  three  from  Indiana,  two  from  Ohio,  one  from  Illinois — 
thirty-three  in  all, — enough  to  carry  it  in  the  House  if  all  the  South  vote 
with  us,  and  seven  to  spare.  It  is  safe  in  the  Senate." 

January  20th. — "  I  never  had  so  much  work — hard  work — to  do  before. 
328 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  329 

I  am  at  it  night  and  day.  I  seldom  get  to  bed  before  twelve  and  one 
o'clock,  and  am  up  at  half-past  seven.  I  am  wearing  out.  I  wish  I  had 
not  consented  to  come  here.  I  see  but  little  good  I  can  do.  I  am  opposed 
to  most  of  the  policy,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive  it,  of  the  present  Adminis 
tration.  The  Walker-Paulding  affair  I  look  upon  as  a  great  outrage.  In 
my  late  letter  to  you,  I  believe  I  said  that  I  could  not  afford  to  quarrel 
with  them  at  present.  But  when  I  saw  what  they  were  doing  I  could  not 
keep  my  mouth  closed,  but  I  kept  back  my  wrath.  The  reason  of  their 
line  of  policy  and  opposition  to  Walker  was  their  hostility  to  his  enterprise 
because  if  successful  he  would  introduce  African  slavery  there.  This  is 
the  whole  upshot  of  the  business.  It  is  the  object  of  this  Government,  in 
conjunction  with  the  British,  to  prevent  any  colony  or  state  arising  in 
Central  America  on  the  basis  or  status  of  the  Southern  States." 

February  3d. — "  My  interview  with  the  President  took  place  last  night 
at  the  appointed  time.  I  think  it  fortunate  for  him,  in  some  respects,  that 
he  sought  it.  He  submitted  his  message  to  me,  which  was  sent  in  yester 
day.  At  my  suggestion  he  made  three  very  important  modifications,  I 
think.  I  insisted  on  his  making  another,  which  he  declined  to  do.  This 
is  the  only  real  or  solid  objection  I  have  to  the  message  as  it  now  stands, 
— that  is,  the  opinion  expressed  that  by  the  Kansas  Bill  the  Slavery  ques 
tion  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  popular  vote.  That  is  a  great  error ;  but 
he  '  had  sworn  that  the  horse  was  fifteen  feet  high,'  and  he  must  needs 
stand  to  it.  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  if  I  had  had  an  interview  with  him 
on  that  first  message  before  it  was  sent  in,  that  error  would  never  have 
been  committed.  This  I  am  led  to  believe  from  his  general  bearing.  On 
all  the  other  points  he  seemed  quick  to  take  an  idea  and  perceive  its  force, 
and  as  readily  yield  to  it  as  any  man  I  ever  conversed  with.  The  conclu 
sion  I  came  to  is  that  Mr.  Buchanan  really  means  to  do  right.  What  he 
most  needs  is  wise  and  prudent  counsellors.  He  is  run  down  and  worn 
out  with  office-seekers,  and  the  cares  which  the  consideration  of  public 
affairs  has  brought  upon  him.  lie  is  now  quite  feeble  and  wan.  I  was 
struck  with  his  physical  appearance ;  he  appears  to  me  to  be  failing  in 
bodily  health. 

"  We  have  now  the  Kansas  question  in  full  blast.  The  vote  will  be 
close.  A  sort  of  test-vote  was  taken  in  the  House  yesterday  on  the  motion 
to  adjourn.  We  lost  it  by  four, — three  Southern  men  out  of  their  seats. 
Had  they  been  in  their  places,  where  they  ought  to  have  been,  the  Speaker 
would  have  brought  it  to  a  tie.  As  it  was,  the  apparent  strength  of  the 
opposition  on  the  first  skirmish  emboldened  and  encouraged  them,  and 
caused  our  Northern  friends  to  tremble  in  their  knees.  I  have  been  more 
provoked  at  the  course  of  Southern  men  on  this  Kansas  question  from  the 
beginning  than  upon  any  other  subject  in  my  public  career.  I  mean  their 
culpable  negligence." 

February  5th. — "  I  fear  we  shall  be  beaten  on  the  admission  of  Kansas. 
The  Northern  Democrats  do  not  stand  up  as  they  have  been  counted ;  and 


330  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

our  mean  Southern  men  will  not  stay  in  their  places.  Last  night  we  had 
a  battle-royal  in  the  House.  Thirty  men  at  least  were  engaged  in  the 
fisticuff.  Fortunately,  no  weapons  were  used.  .  .  .  Nobody  was  hurt  or 
even  scratched,  I  believe  ;  but  bad  feeling  was  produced  by  it.  It  was  the 
first  sectional  fight  ever  had  on  the  floor,  I  think ;  and  if  any  weapons  had 
been  on  hand  it  would  probably  have  been  a  bloody  one.  LA11  things  here 
are  tending  to  bring  my  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Union  cannot  or 
will  not  last  lorFg.T*) 

The  letters  of  this  period  have  frequent  references  to  his  health, 
which  was  very  bad ;  and  his  mental  depression  combined  with 
his  bodily  ailments  to  make  him  wish  himself  safe  out  of  the 
turmoil  and  trouble,  where,  as  he  said  and  thought,  he  was 
"  making  a  useless  sacrifice  of  himself  for  nought,  and  nought 
only." 

"  I  am  wearing  out  rny  life  for  nothing.  To  mix  daily  writh  men  who 
have  no  patriotism,  and  no  object  but  their  own  little  selfish  ends,  is  dis 
gusting  to  me.  If  the  admission  of  Kansas  is  carried,  I  shall  be  done  writh 
politics.  It  is  a  business  I  take  no  pleasure  in.  ...  I  have  done  my  part. 
Some  other  must  take  my  place.  The  rest  of  my  life,  whether  long  or 
short,  I  wish  to  spend  in  quiet  retirement  and  uninterrupted  solitude. 
Physical  pains  I  am  used  to :  mental  pains  as  well.  No  change  can  in 
crease  either.  My  fortitude,  I  trust,  will  never  fail  me  in  whatever  may 
await  me  in  the  future.  ...  If  the  South  would  but  have  the  right  sort 
of  men  here,  there  would  not  be  the  least  difficulty.  We  should  carry  the 

'JL^compton  Constitution,  and  achieve  the  greatest  triumph  in  our  history. 

;   But  patriotism  is  defunct,  public  virtue  is  gone,  integrity  is  gone,  or  at 

V  least  all  these  high  qualities  are  fast  dying  out." 

March  llth. — "Last  night  our  Committee  of  fifteen  agreed  upon  a  report. 
I  drew  it  up  and  submitted  it.  The  labor  of  drawing  up  the  report  was 
nothing  compared  with  that  of  looking  after  the  members  of  the  Commit 
tee  and  getting  them  to  be  present  and  ready  to  sustain  it.  I  do  not  be 
lieve  another  man,  in  the  House  or  outside,  would  have  done  it.  But  I 
succeeded.  I  wished  to  offer  it  next  day  in  the  House,  but  our  side  thought 
it  best  to  wait  on  the  minority.  I  agreed  to  do  so  for  a  wreek,  and  did 
wait  a  week  until  yesterday.  The  minority  was  not  ready.  I  then  pre 
sented  the  report,  which  could  be  carried  only  by  unanimous  consent. 
That  was  not  given,  and  I  had  it  printed.  All  the  time  I  had  urged  the 
Democrats  to  keep  in  their  places ;  for  I  expected  Harris  to  spring  some 
question  in  the  House.  To-day  he  did  this  by  raising  what  he  called  a 
question  of  privilege,  alleging  that  a  majority  of  the  Committee  had  not 
executed  the  order  of  the  House.  This  was  to  keep  the  report  from  ever 
being  made.  The  Speaker  decided,  very  properly,  that  it  was  not  a  ques 
tion  of  privilege.  But  with  a  majority  they  could  overrule  the  decision  of 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  331 

the  Chair.  He  moved  a  call  of  the  House.  But  in  the  call  of  the  roll 
there  were  twenty-two  Democrats — Lecompton  men — absent,  and  only  five 
anti-Lecornpton.  Thirteen  of  the  twenty-two  were  from  the  South.  Had 
they  been  present  we  should  have  saved  the  question.  How  shamefully 
the  South  is  represented !  Some  of  the  Southern  men  were  too  drunk  to 
be  got  into  the  House.  We  got  a  postponement  of  the  question  until 
to-morrow.  In  the  vote  to-day  II.  Marshall  and  all  the  Maryland  Know- 
Nothings  voted  with  the  Republicans.  ...  I  amjvery  apprehensive  that 
we  shall  be  beaten,  but  it  will  be  by  the  South.<^J[jim  almost  overwhelmed 
with  mortification  to  think  that  the  deed  will  be  done  by  our  own  people. 
My  heart  is  sad — sad — sad.  .  .  .  If  we  sho"^  aqpamtp,  wh-if  is  <-r> 
of  jig  in  the  hands  of  such  representatives?  Have  we  any  future  but  mis- 
eraTTe  petty  MjimLiblus,  pail'ms,  filULlo'ns,  and  Fragments  of  organizations, 


led  on  by  contemptible  drunken  demagogues?  My  country — what  is  to 
become  of  it !  It  is  the  idol  of  my  life.  Her  glory,  her  prosperity,  her 
welfare,  happiness  and  renown.  Perhaps  it  is  too  much  my  idol ;  but  it 
has  been  the  absorbing  object  of  my  life's  ambition  5  and  yet  all  is,  I  fear, 
about  to  be  blasted." 

Marsh  12th. — "  We  had  a  fight  again  in  the  House — not  fisticuffs,  but 
parliamentary — on  Harris's  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Speaker.  As 
usual,  we  lost  the  question  by  the  absence  of  two  Southern  votes :  Branch, 
of  North  Carolina,  and  Caruthers,  of  Missouri.  Clarke,  of  New  York,  a 
good  Kansas  man,  has  the  small  pox,  and  could  not  be  there.  Luck  seems 
to  be  against  us.  We  had  all  our  other  men  there  to-day  except  those 
paired.  Some  were  so  drunk  they  had  to  be  kept  out  until  they  were 
wanted  to  say  '  ay'  or  '  no,'  as  the  case  might  be.  The  worst  thing  about 

it  to-day  was  that  H.  paired  off  with  Me ,  of  California,  who  would 

have  voted  with  us  on  that  question,  which  I  think  H.  knew.  Had  he  not 

made  that  pair,  and  voted  with  us,  as  Me would  have  done,  we  should 

have  succeeded.  I  fear  II.  intended  to  follow  H.  Marshall,  but  being  afraid 
to  do  it  openly,  skulked  behind  a  pair" 

March  19th. — "  I  am  very  apprehensive  that  the  admission  of  Kansas 
under  the  Lecompton  Constitution  will  fail.  The  Southern  '  Americans' 
J Know-Nothings],  I  fear,  will  abandon  us  in  mass.  If  so,  all  is  lost.  The 
great  fight  will  come  off  in  the  House  next  Monday  or  Tuesday,  when  the 
Senate  Bill  will  come  in.  The  tactics  of  the  opposition  will  be  to  defeat 
the  bill  without  a  direct  vote.  They  will  move  to  refer  it  to  the  Select 
Committee  of  fifteen.  That  being  a  select  committee,  under  the  ruling  it 
can  never  report  until  all  the  Committees  are  called.  This  can  easily  be 
prevented  during  the  whole  session,  so  the  question  cannot  again  be 
brought  forward.  The  Southern  '  Americans'  will  all,  I  fear  (or  enough 
of  them),  vote  for  this  reference,  knowing  its  effect,  while  they  would  per 
haps  not  dare  to  vote  against  the  bill.  This  gives  me  great  uneasiness  by 
day  and  night.  I  was  never  so  much  worn  with  care  and  anxiety  in  my 
life." 


332  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

April  2d. — "  We  lost  the  Senate  Bill  for  the  admission  of  Kansas  in  the 
House  yesterday.  This  was  as  I  expected.  Six  Southern  '  Americans' 
defeat3d  us.  Twenty-nine  Northern  Democrats  stood  firm.  Had  all  the 
Southern  members  stood  firm  also,  our  majority  with  a  full  House  would 
have  been  eight. 

"I  am  not  yet  without  hope  that  the  Senate  will  yet  recede  from  the 
substitution  of  Crittenden's  bill  for  the  Senate  Bill.  If  so,  we  may  yet 
succeed  over  the  Republican  and  Know-Nothing  alliance  which  defeated 
us  yesterday.  But  on  this  point  I  am  not  so  hopeful  now  as  I  was  yester 
day.  Northern  men  now  begin  to  say  that  they  cannot  fight  Republicans 
and  Southern  men  both  in  defence  of  Southern  rights." 

April  7th. — "  The  Senate  will  return  us  the  Kansas  Bill  with  its  non- 
concurrence  in  the  House  substitute  to-day.  To-morrow  we  shall  take  a 
vote  on  receding  or  adhering.  Our  side  will  be  beaten  on  the  vote.  We 
may  be  able  to  get  a  conference  asked  by  the  House,  but  I  doubt  that.  If 
we  do,  that  will  be  what  our  side  will  be  better  satisfied  with  than  a  vote 
to  adhere.  If  we  adhere,  the  bill  will  go  back  to  the  Senate,  and  they 
will  ask  a  conference.  Then  it  will  come  back.  I  think  we  shall  then 
agree,  if  not  before,  to  a  committee  of  conference.  I  cannot  predict,  but 
will  venture  the  opinion  that  nothing  will  be  agreed  upon  but  a  recom 
mendation  that  the  House  recede.  Then  will  come  the  decisive  tug  of 
war.  ...  I  am  still  hopeful,  but  not  sanguine.  Good-by.  I  have  worked 
hard,  worn  out  myself  in  the  cause  of  my  country.  If  I  succeed,  I  shall 
greatly  rejoice  on  her  account.V  Tf  I  fail,  the  bitterest  feeling  I  shall 
suffer  will  arisejroni  the  fact  thaTTTie  failure  ensued  from  the  defection 
of  Southern  men./ 

On  the  17th  of  April,  Mr.  Stephens  thus  wrote  to  R.  M.  J.  : 

"  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with  business.  My  time  is  taken  up,  day 
and  night,  with  the  absorbing  question  of  the  admission  of  Kansas.  I  am 
now  on  the  Committee  of  Conference.*  I  am  sick,  besides,  and  yet  am 
compelled  to  be  up  to  give  audience  to  all  sorts  of  views  and  suggestions. 
...  If  we  can  get  a  recognition  of  the  principle  we  have  been  contending 
for,  the  right  of  the  State  to  come  in  with  slavery,  or  without  objection  on 
that  score,  it  is  ail  I  can  hope  for." 

April  26th. — "  My  room  has  been  crowded  all  day  and  night  with  friends. 
The  theme  was  the  Kansas  question,  and  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Conference.  The  vote  on  it  is  still  in  great  doubt.  ...  I  am  now  in  my 
seat  before  the  House  meets,  interrupted  every  minute  by  inquiries  as  to 
what  is  the  prospect.  I  am  exceedingly  harassed,  but  am  as  patient  as 
Job.  Never  did  man  work  harder  or  effect  more  than  I  have  done  in  this 
matter.  The  whole  labor  has  been  on  myself.  The  most  disagreeable  re 
flection  attending  the  whole  subject  to  me  is,  that  all  may  be  for  nought, 
and  that  we  may  ultimately  fail.  This  is  now  my  serious  apprehension." 

*  Mr.  Stephens  was  head  of  the  House  Committee  of  Conference. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  333 

April  29th. —  ..."  The  tide  of  battle  every  day  ebbs  and  flows  like 
that  of  the  sea.  So  uncertain  and  fickle  is  man,  yes,  even  grave  members 
and  Senators.  In  proportion  to  the  number,  there  are  more  fools  in  Con 
gress  than  in  any  constable's  beat  in  Taliaferro  County.  Since  the  report 
of  the  Conference  Committee  there  have  been  several  periods  when  we  could 
have  carried  it,  if  we  could  have  got  a  vote,  by  a  majority  of  eight;  and 
I  should  not  be  surprised  if  we  should  finally  lose  it  by  a  greater  one." 

May  1st. — The  bill  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Conference 
for  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State,  passed  both  Houses  on 
April  30th.  In  the  lower  House  it  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
thirteen,  the  same  numerical  majority  by  which  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill  had  passed  in  1854.  Mr.  Stephens,  referring  to 
its  passage,  writes : 

"  Every  Southern  Democratic  Senator  present  voted  for  it.  Jefferson 
Davis  had  himself  sent  for  to  record  his  vote  for  it.  He  is  in  very  bad 
health, — has  been  extremely  ill.  I  took  the  paper  to  him  and  got  his  ap 
proval  of  it  before  I  would  agree  to  report  it.  This  is  the  way  I  worked 
the  matter  with  all  the  leading  men  from  the  South." 

After  discussing  the  merits  of  the  Conference  Bill,  which  he 
prefers  to  the  original  Senate  Bill,  he  continues : 

"  I  had  a  discussion  in  the  House  the  other  day  with  II.  Winter  Davis 
on  this  Conference  Bill.  My  remarks  were  impromptu  :  I  had  no  idea  of 
his  making  a  speech,  and  no  idea  of  replying  to  him  until  a  few  minutes 
before  he  closed.  I  never  made  a  speech  in  the  House  that  seemed  to 
please  my  friends  better.  The  speech  reported  as  Davis's  in  the  Globe  is 
not  the  speech  he  made.  That  he  wrote  out  afterwards,  and  in  it  he  has 
tried  to  anticipate  and  evade  the  force  of  the  points  I  made  on  him.  He 
has  also  corrected  and  interlined  sentences  in  his  remarks  in  the  running 
debate  between  us,  which  greatly  weaken  the  apparent  force  of  the  points  I 
made  on  him,  when  taken  into  connection  with  the  speech  as  he  has  it 
going  before.  This  is  unbearable,  if  there  were  any  way  to  prevent  it.  The 
plan  of  reporting  in  the  Globe  is  abominable  :  the  whole  system  is  a 
nuisance.  In  Davis's  first  speech  as  he  made  it,  he  broadly  denied  and 
challenged  the  production  of  a  case,  since  the  admission  of  Missouri,  when 
a  State  had  been  admitted  on  a  condition.  He  was  so  completely  and 
thoroughly  used  up,  that  the  House  was  several  times  in  a  roar  of  laughter 
and  applause. 

"  I  want  to  go  home  soon.  I  feel  it  necessary  to  recruit  my  health.  I 
am  worn  out." 

On  the  llth  of  May,  Mr.  Stephens  addressed  the  House  on 


334  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Minnesota.  Several  objections  had 
been  made,  the  chief  of  which,  and  that  to  which  Mr.  Stephens 
especially  addressed  his  reply,  being  the  assertion  that  the  con 
stitution  of  Minnesota  was  in  conflict  with  that  of  the  United 
States,  in  permitting  persons  other  than  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  at  State  elections.  To  this  Mr.  Stephens  replied 
that  on  the  question  of  the  admission  of  a  State  into  the  Union, 
Congress  had  only  the  right  to  inquire  whether. its  constitution 
was  republican  in  form,  and  whether  it  fairly  expressed  the 
will  of  the  people.  If  any  parts  of  her  constitution  were  at 
variance  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  they  were 
overruled  by  that  Constitution  ;  but  that  this  was  a  matter  to 
be  determined,  not  by  Congress,  but  by  the  proper  judicial 
authority,  whenever  a  conflict  arose.  From  this  point  he  passed 
to  the  more  important  question  of  the  rights  of  the  States  to 
determine,  each  for  itself,  the  qualifications  of  their  own  voters 
at  State  elections.  This  was  a  right  which  had  never  been 
delegated  to  the  General  Government,  and  therefore,  by  the 
express  words  of  the  Constitution,  it  was  reserved  to  the  people 
of  the  several  States.  This  right  he  showed  had  been  recognized 
by  numerous  acts  of  Congress,  coining  down  from  the  very 
formation  of  the  Government. 

Here  he  answered  an  argument  of  Mr.  Davis,  of  Maryland, 
who,  taking  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  in  which  the  chief  justice  had  said  that  the  words  "  people 
of  the  United  States"  in  the  Constitution  were  synonymous 
with  " citizens  of  the  United  States/7  had  ingeniously  coupled 
this  with  part  of  a  clause  in  the  Constitution  in  which  that 
instrument  appoints  that  the  Representatives  shall  be  chosen 
by  the  "  people  of  the  several  States.77  Mr.  Davis's  argument, 
if  it  can  be  called  such,  was,  that  " people  of  the  several  States" 
was  the  same  thing  as  "  people  of  the  United  States,"  and  that 
as  these,  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  were  "citizens 
of  the  United  States,"  it  followed  that  the  admission  of  any 
but  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  for  Representatives 
was  unconstitutional.  Mr.  Stephens  simply  pointed  6ut  that  he 
had  taken  just  so  much  of  the  clause  in  question  as  seemed  to 
bear  him  out,  and  had  left  out  the  rest,  which  completely  de- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  335 

stroyed  his  argument.  For  the  clause,  after  appointing  that 
Representatives  in  Congress  shall  be  chosen  "by  the  people  of 
the  several  States,"  proceeds,  "  .  .  .  and  the  electors  in  each 
State  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the 
most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature,"  thus  explicitly 
leaving  the  States  to  fix  the  requisite  qualifications,  as  un 
restrictedly  as  in  the  case  of  their  own  Legislatures. 

He  then  commented  upon  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  in  which  it  was  decided  that  persons  of 
African  race,  slaves  or  descendants  of  slaves,  formed  no  part 
of  the  original  aggregate  of  persons  called  "people,"  or  "citizens 
of  the  United  States"  ;  that  no  State  laws  could  confer  that 
citizenship  upon  them ;  but  that  the  State  could  confer  upon 
them  the  privilege  of  suffrage  within  its  own  limits,  and  no 
more.  From  this  decision  Mr.  Stephens  conclusively  argued 
that  Minnesota  might  confer  upon  persons  who  were  not  citizens 
of  the  United  States  the  rights  of  State-citizenship,  and  with 
the  rest  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of  the  State  Legislature 
and  for  Representatives  in  Congress,  without  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

May  14th. — "  When  I  received  your  letters  I  was  thinking  of  this  day 
thirty-two  years  ago.  It  was  on  that  day  your  mother  followed  our 
common  father  to  the  world  of  spirits,  leaving  you,  as  I  was  left  before, 
an  orphan  in  the  complete  sense  of  the  word, — a  helpless  child,  without 
father  or  mother.  The  day  you  have  perhaps  no  recollection  of  5  but 
well  do  I  recollect  it.  It  was  the  consummation  of  my  woes  at  that 
period  of  my  life ;  that  was  the  day  on  which  the  fate  of  our  little  family 
circle  was  sealed.  Soon  we  were  scattered  ;  and  never  did  the  family 
hearth  blaze  in  cheerfulness  again.  A  few  nights  before  my  heart  almost 
sank  within  me  on  hearing  the  screams  of  an  ill-omened  bird, — a  raven 
it  must  have  been, — which  came  near  the  house  on  the  hill  to  the  south 
west,  perched,  I  think,  upon  the  mulberry  that  still  stands  there.  Ben 
said,  when  he  heard  the  croaking  of  the  nightly  messenger,  that  it  was 
the  sign  of  death.  His  remark  sank  deep  into  my  soul.  I  have  never 
heard  such  a  bird  before  or  since,  and  what  kind  of  a  bird  it  was  I  do  not 
know.  You  may  set  this  down  to  a  sprinkling  of  superstition  in  my 
nature ;  I  will  plead  guilty.  .  .  . 

"Whether  the  Conference  Bill  be  right  or  wrong,  I  am  responsible  for 
it.  I  will  give  you  the  history  of  it  when  I  see  you." 

Another  "sprinkling  of  superstition"  appears    in  the   letter 


336  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

of  May  23d,  which  gives  an  account  of  a  dinner  at  Mr.  Toombs's, 
the  party  being  thirteen  in  number. 

u  The  number  Avas  an  unlucky  one,  and  I  felt  some  uneasiness  when 
sitting  down  to  the  table,  which  was  increased  by  a  sudden  and  violent 
attack  of  illness  of  one  of  the  party." 

Mr.  Stephens  had  been  expecting  to  go  home  after  the  de 
cision  of  the  Ohio  contested  election  case, — Vallandigham  and 
Campbell, — in  which  he  took  a  strong  interest  in  favor  of  the 
former.  The  decision  wras  in  favor  of  Vallandigham ;  but 
he  concluded  now  to  stay  to  the  end  of  the  session. 

About  this  time  considerable  irritation  was  felt  in  the  country 
at  the  action  of  the  officers  of  the  British  war-steamer  Styx,  then 
cruising  in  the  Gulf,  afor  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade/' 
who  had  brought- to,  boarded,  and  searched  a  number  of 
American  vessels.  The  matter  was  brought  before  Congress, 
and  was  the  subject  of  some  correspondence  between  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  and  the  British  Minister  at  Washington.  Mr. 
Stephens  was  indignant  at  the  affair,  and  writes : 

"  I  feel  deeply  enraged  at  the  course  of  the  British  cruiser  in  the  Gulf. 
I  have  urged  the  President  to  send  down  naval  force  sufficient,  and  bring 
in  the  Styx  and  all  other  like  craft,  dead  or  alive.  I  would  not  ask  any 
reclamation  from  England  for  such  insults  ;  but  I  would  seize  her  ships, 
if  necessary,  and  explain  myself  afterwards." 

June  llth. — This  is  an  eventful  day.  He  has  bought  him  a 
pair  of  spectacles,  on  which  he  moralizes  much  in  the  strain  of 
the  melancholy  Jaques : 

"Thus  life  passes  away;  time  rolls  on,  years  troop  by,  leaving  their 
foot-prints  in  wrinkles  in  the  face,  gray  hairs  on  the  head,  and  dimmed 
vision  in  the  eyes.  In  a  few  more  years,  loss  of  teeth,  bending  shoulders, 
and  trembling  limbs  will  close  the  scene." 

In  July  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  paid  a  visit  to  Mr.  Johns 
ton  at  Athens.  One  evening  while  he  was  at  the  house  of  the 
President,  Dr.  Church,  a  message  was  received  that  the  students 
with  a  band  of  music  were  at  Mr.  Johnston's  gate,  desiring  to 
pay  their  respects  to  Mr.  Stephens.  The  latter  was  extremely 
embarrassed  by  the  news,  and  intimated  an  intention  to  avoid 
the  proposed  honors  by  remaining  where  he  was.  This  the  com- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  337 

pany  would  not  hear  of:  he  was  almost  carried  off  by  force;  and 
on  reaching  the  house,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  veteran 
orator  was  seized  with  a  panic  of  embarrassment  at  the  idea  of 
addressing  a  party  of  students !  He  took  refuge  in  Mr.  Johns 
ton's  study,  and  while  there  seemed  to  be  looking  about  for  an 
opportunity  to  escape  by  flight.  "  I  will  not  speak."  "  You 
must  speak  :  the  boys  will  not  go  away  without  a  speech."  "  I 
can't  speak.  I  don't  know  what  to  say."  uSay  anything." 
He  rushed  about  the  room  and  rubbed  his  head.  "  I  have 
nothing  to  speak  about.  Give  me  a  subject,  and  I  can  talk  all 
night;  but  I  can't  speak  about  nothing!"  His  embarrassment 
would  have  been  amusing  if  it  had  not  been  so  painfully  ex 
treme.  The  music  ceased,  and  then  arose  the  cry,  "  Stephens ! 
Stephens !"  There  was  no  help  for  it.  He  went  to  the  door, 
as  reluctantly  as  a  criminal  to  the  block,  and  made  a  short  ad 
dress,  which  it  may  be  presumed  was  satisfactory,  as  it  was  loudly 
applauded. 

In  August,  Mr.  Stephens  went  with  his  brother  on  a  tour 
through  the  Northwest  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  which  had 
been  seriously  impaired  by  the  fatigues  of  the  session.  During 
this  summer  the  contest  took  place  in  Illinois  between  Mr. 
Douglas  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  rival  candidates  for  the  Senatorship. 
Mr.  Buchanan's  Administration  had  broken  with  Douglas  on  his 
refusal  to  support  its  policy  for  the  settlement  of  the  Kansas  dif 
ficulties.  Mr.  Stephens,  notwithstanding  his  firm  adherence  to 
that  policy,  refused  to  part  from  Douglas,  and  thought  the  hos 
tility  to  him  both  unwise  and  unjust.  This  refusal  rendered 
him  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  Administration,  which,  strange 
to  say,  lent  its  influence  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

In  the  course  of  this  summer  tour  Mr.  Stephens  spent  some 
time  in  Chicago,  especially  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  artist 
Healy,  and  having  painted  portraits  of  his  brother  and  his 
brother's  deceased  wife.  On  his  return  he  found  that  the  Ad 
ministration  papers  in  Georgia  had  been  criticising  his  move 
ments,  and  attributing  to  his  Illinois  tour  the  purpose  of  helping 
Mr.  Douglas  in  the  canvass.  These  charges  were  uttered  pretty 
freely,  especially  by  the  friends  of  Governor  Cobb,  who  was 
looked  upon  as  Mr.  Buchanan's  choice  for  the  succession,  and 

22 


338  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

who  was  especially  hostile  to  Mr.  Douglas's  election.  On  Mr. 
Stephens^  return  he  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Johnston,  from 
which  the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

Crawfordville,  September  3d. — "  We  got  home  safely,  and  in  time  for  our 
court.  My  health  has  been  considerably  benefited.  I  was  a  little  annoyed 
when  I  returned  and  found  that  our  newspapers  had  got  into  such  a  muss 
about  the  purpose  of  my  visit  to  Illinois.  I  was  really  provoked  at  their 
ill-grounded  surmises  and  unjust  suspicions, — charging  political  motives 
and  personal  objects  in  forming  political  combinations, — but  I  don't  care  a 
button  for  it  now.  Politics  had  nothing  in  the  world  to  do  with  my  travels, 
and  I  had  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  politics.  I  was,  in  reality,  run 
ning  away  from  the  subject.  I  was  in  quest  of  rest  and  relaxation,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  eschewed  even  the  mention  of  the  theme  in  conversation. 
When  my  opinion  was  asked  I  gave  it ;  as  I  always  have  done  and  always 
shall.  I  did  not  hesitate  to  say  in  Ohio  and  Illinois  and  everywhere  just 
what  I  said  at  home  and  in  Athens  before  I  left,  that  I  should  prefer  to 
see  Douglas  elected  to  Lincoln,  and  I  thought  the  war  of  the  Washington 
Union  on  him  ought  to  cease.  I  did  not  say  that  I  considered  it  a  '  wick 
edly  foolish'  war  ;  but  I  did  say  that  I  thought  it  an  unwrise  and  impolitic 
war.  This  is  my  deliberate  judgment ;  and  it  is  perfectly  immaterial  with 
me  \vho  approves  it  and  who  disapproves  it." 

At  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  began  to  be  spoken  of  in  many 
sections  of  the  country  as  a  possible  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
and  he  was  regarded  with  increasing  jealousy  by  those  who 
cherished  hopes  of  the  Democratic  nomination  for  1860.  But, 
as  we  have  seen  from  his  confidential  letters  to  his  brother,  he 
had  no  such  ambition.  He  was  growing  heartily  sick  of  polit 
ical  life, — sick  of  rolling  up  the  stone  of  Sisyphus  which  kept 
forever  rolling  back, — sick  with  the  mental  and  the  physical 
exertions  his  duties  required,  and  sick  at  the  prospect  for  the 
country.  In  December  he  returned  to  Washington,  whence  he 
writes  on  December  7th  : 

"  Cobb  called  on  me  Saturday  night.  He  is  exceedingly  bitter  against 
Douglas.  I  joked  him  a  good  deal,  and  told  him  he  had  better  not  fight, 
or  he  would  certainly  be  whipped ;  that  is,  in  driving  Douglas  out  of  the 
Democratic  party.  He  said  that  if  Douglas  ever  wras  restored  to  the  con 
fidence  of  the  Democracy  of  Georgia,  it  would  be  over  his  dead  body, 
politically.  This  shows  his  excitement,  that  is  all.  I  laughed  at  him, 
and  told  him  he  would  run  his  feelings  and  his  policy  into  the  ground." 

December  8th. — "On  my  way  from  Georgetown  I  called  at  the  White 
House,  and  made  my  bow  to  the  President.  He  looked  well ;  that  is,  in 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  339 

good  health,  but  did  not  seem  much  inclined  to  talk.  I  suppose  he  has 
an  idea  that  I  am  against  him,  because  I  am  not  against  Douglas's  re 
election  to  the  Senate. 

"  I  have  been  a  little  provoked.  The  circumstance  was  this :  Mudd, 
whom  I  believe  you  know,  called  to  see  me.  He  said  he  had  just  had 
a  discussion  about  me.  It  was  with  Junius  Hillyer,  and  about  iny 
being  the  next  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  He  gave  me 
the  particulars  of  the  conversation.  It  had  been  commenced  by  Hillyer 
asking  him  about  Cobb's  prospects.  Then,  in  speaking  of  Georgia,  on 
Mudd's  asking  him  what  Cobb's  chances  would  be  in  his  own  State,  he 
said  that  I  was  figuring  for  it,  or  wanted  it,  or  something  to  that  purpose, 
which  was  new  to  Mudd.  But  Hillyer  insisted  on  it  that  I  was.  But 
this  was  not  all.  Mudd  went  into  Clayton's  room,  and  Clayton  asked 
him  if  I  had  come  or  if  he  had  seen  me.  Mudd  said  he  had  barely  seen 
me  at  the  House,  but  had  had  no  conversation  with  me ;  whereupon  Phil 
said,  '  Stephens  is  intensely  Douglas,'  and  went  on  in  this  strain.  Now 
after  the  long,  frank,  candid  talk  I  had  had  with  Cobb  on  Saturday  night 
(Clayton  being  present),  I  did  feel  almost  offended  at  hearing  that  he 
should  talk  thus  about  me.  I  told  Mudd  I  would  take  it  as  a  favor  if  he 
would  in  person  say  to  Hillyer,  and  to  all  others  who  might  in  his 
presence  take  a  like  liberty  in  the  use  of  my  name,  that  I  told  him  to 
say  that  I  would  just  as  lief  be  put  upon  a  list  of  suspected  horse-thieves 
as  to  be  considered  in  the  number  of  those  who  were  aspiring  or  looking 
to  the  probabilities  or  chances  of  ever  being  President.  I  looked  upon  all 
such  with  feelings  of  great  pity,  commingled  with  contempt ;  and  I  should 
loath  myself  if  I  felt  conscious  of  such  a  spirit  taking  possession  of  my 
breast.  This  is  about  the  substance  of  what  I  told  him,  and  I  was  in 
earnest  in  what  I  said.  I  do  wish  an  end  put  to  all  such  use  of  my  name. 
I  have  had  it  alluded  to  several  times  since  I  have  been  here,  greatly  to 
my  annoyance.  Perhaps  '  Old  Buck'  to-day  thought  I  was  an  insidious 
rival,  slyly  worming  myself  into  his  place,  or  trying  to  do  it.  If  so,  alas  ! 
poor  old  fellow  !  How  his  views  would  change  if  he  did  but  know  how  I 
pitied  him,  as  I  looked  upon  him,  with  all  his  power!" 


CHAPTEK    XXXII. 

A  Mysterious  Confidence — Overwork — A  Toung  Protegee — Ophthalmic 
Surgery — The  Blind  Dog's  Guide — Busts  of  Mr.  Stephens — The  Mariner 
in  Port — Linton  on  the  Bench — Home  Troubles — Farewell  Dinner  of 
fered  Him  by  Congress — Public  Dinner  at  Augusta — A  Farewell  Speech 
— Warning  to  President  Buchanan — A  True  Prophecy — Canine  Psy 
chology — Address  at  the  University  of  Georgia — Law  Business— A  Kule 
adopted — Plans  for  the  Future. 

EARLY  in  December,  1858,  Linton  Stephens  came  to  Washing 
ton,  where  he  represented  the  State  of  Georgia  in  a  suit  between 
that  State  and  Alabama  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  touching  a  question  of  boundary.  The  correspondence, 
therefore,  ceases  until  his  return.  On  the  25th  Mr.  Stephens 
wrote  him  a  letter,  which  has  been  destroyed,  but  the  following 
extract  from  Linton's  reply  will  show  a  part  of  its  purport : 

"  You  maybe  right  in  your  opinion  that  you  have  succeeded  in  keeping 
to  yourself  the  secret  of  a  misery  that  has  preyed  upon  you,  and  yet  preys 
upon  you.  The  fact  has  long  been  known  to  me,  for  you  have  several 
times  written  it  to  me,  though  you  have  never  mentioned  it  in  conversation. 
The  cause  of  it  you  have  never  communicated  to  me,  but  I  do  not  doubt 
that  I  know  it.  I  may  be  wholly  mistaken ;  and  I  have  never  asked  you 
a  question  about  it  to  settle  any  doubt  I  might  have,  for  several  reasons. 
I  look  upon  it  as  a  key  to  your  character.  If  I  am  right,  I  comprehend 
your  character  and  feelings  far  better  than  you  seem  to  think ;  if  I  am 
wrong,  I  don't  understand  you  at  all.  In  my  judgment  it  is  the  founda 
tion  of  your  highest  virtues,  and  the  source  of  your  greatest  faults.  If 
I  know  you,  one  of  your  leading  virtues  is  a  resolute,  determined,  almost 
dogged  kindness  and  devotion  of  service  to  mankind,  who  have,  in  your 

Mudgment,  no  claim  on  your  affection,  and  whom  your  impulses  lead  you 
to  despise.  This  is  a  great  battle  which  often  rages,  the  conflict  between 
your  resolution  to  be  kind  and  your  impulse  to  be  almost  revengeful. 

x  The  habitual  triumph  of  the  principle  over  the  feeling  is  all  the  more 

bright  from  the  fierceness  of  the~conflict.     I  think  I  not  only  partly  know 

'  what's  done,'  but  also  much  of  '  what's  resisted.'     One  of  your  greatest 

faults,  which  has  been  more  and  more  corrected  from  year  to  year,  and 

340 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   1L   STEPHENS.  341 

which  must  therefore  be  known  to  you,  is  a  residuum  of  what's  not  re 
sisted, — an  imperiousness  which  loves  to  show  the  herd  how  much  they  are 
your  inferiors  in  certain  points.  It  produces  good  and  evil  too.  I  think 
you  are  under  a  mistaken  and  unhappy  philosophy ;  or  perhaps  it  is  more 
accurate  to  say  that  your  philosophy  has  failed  to  cure  the  unhappiness 
of  your  constitution.  I  do  not  think  it  is  an  attainable  thing,  either  to 
feel  universally  kind  and  brotherly  towards  all  mankind,  or  to  acquire  an 
utter  indifference  to  their  opinions ;  and  yet  I  do  believe  that  the  greatest 
happiness  and  wisdom  consist  in  the  nearest  possible  approximation  to 
universal  good  will  toward  mankind  and  profound  indifference  to  their 
opinions.  The  opinions  of  people  have  too  much  power  to  affect  your 
happiness.  It  is  so.  Besides,  you  impute  to  them  sometimes  opinions 
which  they  do  not  have.  I  would  not  obtrude  an  unwelcome  word  upon 
you  :  and  I  hope  I  have  not  done  so." 

On  the  next  day  Linton  writes  again,  referring  to  the  same 
letter  of  the  25th : 

"  Your  letter,  to  which  I  wrote  some  sort  of  an  answer  last  night,  has 
produced  strange  feelings  in  me.  I  can't  define  them  very  well,  but  they 
are  not  pleasant  feelings.  I  have  burned  the  letter.  It  has  been  rather  a 
rare  thing  with  me  to  burn  one  of  your  letters.  I  have  piles  of  them  on 
hand  :  one  in  a  similar  strain  with  the  last,  but  none  like  it  or  approaching 
it  in  its  energy,  its  despair,  and  yet  its  unwavering  resolution  to  bear  on 
and  despair  on.  I  read  it  at  first  in  the  light  of  an  opinion  which  I 
already  had ;  but  when  I  re-read  it  to-day,  and  compared  all  its  points,  I 
don't  understand  it.  You  must  allude  to  something  I  don't  understand  ; 
or  else  what  I  had  really  discovered  has  assumed  proportions  and  magni 
tude  that  I  had  little  suspected.  I  don't  feel  anything  that  can  be  called 
curiosity  about  it,  but  I  do  feel  a  deep  interest  in  it.  I  had  thought  that 
no  human  heart  had  ever  felt  a  woe  or  an  agony  without  yearning  to 
tell  it  to  some  sympathizing  ear.  Such  is  my  nature,  and  such  is  my 
judgment  of  human  nature.  To  find  something  different  from  this  seems 
strange  indeed.  To  have  the  yearning  without  finding  the  sympathizing 
heart  for  communication  of  the  burden  is  what  I  can  and  do  well  and 
often,  so  fully  comprehend ;  but  a  desire  to  hoard  a  misery  to  yourself  is 
what  I  don't  understand." 

On  the  28th  of  January,  Mr.  Stephens  writes  to  E,.  M.  J., 
giving  a  sketch  of  his  multifarious  daily  occupations. 

"  I  know  you  would  pity  me  if  you  were  to  see  my  operations  for  one 
day.  Now  what  do  you  think?  I  was  just  going  to  say,  if  you  could 
see  my  work,  interruptions,  calls,  and  long  sittings  of  visitors,  etc.;  but 
before  I  got  the  words  penned  here  carne  a  man  who  consumed  a  half- 
hour  of  my  time ;  and  so  it  is  from  morning  until  night,  and  from  night 


342  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Jill  morning.  I  rise  and  breakfast  at  eight ;  then  commence  with  my  mail. 
Frequently  I  do  not  get  half  through  that  before  I  am  bored  almost  to 
death  with  calls  on  business  of  all  sorts  ;  then  to  the  Committee  at  ten ; 
then  to  the  House  at  twelve :  then  to  dinner  at  four ;  then  calls  before  I 
leave  the  table  till  twelve  at  night.  Then  I  take  up  and  get  through  my 
unfinished  reading  of  letters  and  newspapers  of  the  morning ;  and  then 
at  one  o'clock  get  to  bed.  I  now  have  about  one  hundred  letters  before 
me  unanswered.  Were  you  here,  you  would  pity  me.  .  .  .  But  on  one 
thing  I  am  determined  :  when  this  session  ends,  with  it  will  and  shall 
end  my  connection  with  politics  forever.  Then  I  can  follow,  and  if  life 
and  strength  allow,  I  can  and  will  devote  myself  to  pursuits  more  con 
genial  to  my  tastes  and  nature." 

On  February  3d,  Mr.  Stephens  writes  to  Linton  : 

"I  have  not  yet  commenced  my  letter  to  the  people  of  the  Eighth  Dis 
trict,  declining  to  run  any  more;  but  I  shall  do  it  just  as  soon  as  I  can. 
The  House  has  not  yet  set  aside  any  day  for  the  consideration  of  Territorial 
business.  The  session,  I  think,  will  come  to  a  general  smash-up  of  the 
public  business  in  the  closing  scenes.  This  will  be  no  affair  of  mine. 
Those  will  be  mostly  concerned  who  remain  on  the  public  boards.  I  am 
daily  becoming  more  anxious  for  the  close  of  my  labors  here." 

On  the  18th  he  writes  to  K.  M.  J. : 

"  I  send  you  a  small  slip  from  a  newspaper  in  this  city.  To  you  I  will 
say  it  is  from  a  lady  whose  daughter  I  am  educating.  She  is  the  wife  of 

.     He  is  poor,  very  poor :  his  wife  was  once  well  off,  of  good 

family,  but  they  are  now  reduced.  They  have  a  little  daughter  of  sprightly 
mind,  but  severely  afflicted  in  body.  I  sent  her  to  school  last  year,  and 
intend  to  keep  her  at  school  until  she  gets  her  education.  I  make  this 
explanation  that  you  may  know  to  what  she  alludes  in  the  last  stanza." 

The  slip  contained  a  few  stanzas  praising  an  unnamed  bene 
factor;  of  no  great  merit  as  poetry,  but  pleasing  to  him  as  the 
sincere  expression  of  a  gratitude  which  had  nothing  else  to  give. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  was  paying  the  expenses  of  several 
young  persons  of  both  sexes  in  schools  and  colleges ;  a  practice 
which  he  had  begun  years  before,  and  as  soon  as  his  means 
would  allow.  In  this  particular  way  he  has  probably  done 
more,  to  the  extent  of  his  means,  than  any  other  person.  His 
legal  practice  was  hicjratwej^eyeji  .while  he  was  in  Congress; 
ImcTas  His  "own  wants  were  few  and  simple,  he  expended  the 
greater  part  of  his  income  in  benefactions  of  various  sorts. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  343 

"We  ranch  regret  the  loss  of  all  the  letters  between  this  clate^ 
and  that  of  March  16th.  This  was  an  interesting  period  in 
Stephens's  career,  and,  as  he  then  believed,  the  last  of  his  labors 
in  Congress.  Several  of  Linton's  letters  allude  to  events  of 
this  time,  and  especially  to  his  speech  on  the  admission  of 
Oregon  ;  the  speech  which  of  all  he  ever  made  in  Congress 
made  perhaps  the  strongest  immediate  impression.  All  who 
heard  it  spoke  of  it  as  a  master-piece  of  eloquence.  It  was  not 
written  out,  and  the  summaries  given  by  the  press  from  the 
reporters'  notes  represent  it  so  imperfectly  that  we  refrain  from 
giving  an  extract  from  them. 

On  the  16th  of  March  he  writes  from  home,  where  he  has 
settled  down  with  the  conviction  that  he  has  finally  retired  from 
public  life.  The  letter  is  chiefly  about  his  old  friend  and 
favorite  Rio,  of  whom  he  has  sad  news  to  tell. 

"  A  part  of  my  daily  duties  is  to  doctor  poor  Rio.  Poor  fellow,  he  is 
blind.  When  I  got  home,  driving  into  the  yard,  just  before  dark,  and 
saw  him  at  a  distance,  and  called  to  him,  and  saw  from  the  motion  of  his 
head  and  body  that  he  could  not  se'e  me,  I  almost  wept.  He  knew  iny 
voice  and  came  as  fast  as  he  could  in  a  devious  way,  turning  right  as  I 
spoke  to  him,  until  he  scented  me  out,  and  then  put  up  the  most  piteous 
rejoicing  bark  in  evident  tones  of  lamentation.  My  heart  was  overcome, 
but  I  could  do  and  say  nothing  but,  '  Poor  dog !  you  know  your  master, 
do  you?'  whereupon  he  seemed  to  utter  something  like  a  cry  himself.  He 
now  follows  me  about  wherever  I  go.  He  barks  incessantly  if  I  leave 
him.  He  keeps  close  after  me,  and  follows  the  sound  of  my  feet.  I 
usually  carry  a  cane,  and  let  that  drag  along  behind  for  him  to  hear  it 
more  distinctly  than  he  can  my  tread.  He  goes  thus  with  me  to  town  ; 
knows  when  he  gets  to  the  court-house  steps,  knows  when  he  gets  to  the 
platform  of  the  depot,  knows  when  he  is  on  the  hill-side  of  the  Spring- 
branch.  For  two  days  I  have  been  washing  his  eyes  with  sugar  of  lead:. 
I  think  it  helps  them.  To-day  in  walking  out  in  the  old  fields,  I  fancied 
he  could  see  a  little.  I  thought  he  shunned  a  bush.  Usually  he  will  butt 
against  anything  in  the  way.  When  I  noticed  him  going  round  the  bush 
as  I  thought,  I  called  him  to  me  and  said,  '  Why,  Rio,  can  master's  dog 
see  again?'  He  opened  his  inflamed  eyes  wide,  and  looked  me  in  the  face. 
Whether  he  could  see  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  he  barked  joyously  and 
frisked  off  as  he  used  to  do  in  play.  I  said.  '  Do  you  want  to  catch  a 
rabbit?'  whereupon  he  barked  as  before  and  seemed  to  have  life  enough 
if  he  had  had  his  sight.  I  am  going  to  do  my  best  to  cure  him." 

Here  the  writer  details  the  system  of  treatment  he  proposes 


344  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

to  carry  out,  which,  as  it  unhappily  proved  unsuccessful,  we 
omit. 

March  18th. — After  a  long  discussion  on  the  subject  of  novels, 
he  reverts  to  the  health  of  poor  Rio,  in  which  he  flatters  him 
self  he  discovers  some  improvement. 

"  My  daily  recreation  and  amusement,  apart  from  books  and  writing,  is 
the  melancholy  pastime  of  strolling  about  the  lot  and  grounds,  leading,  or 
rather  guiding,  a  blind  dog.  Who  knows  what  he  will  come  to?  But  I 
tell  you  it  is  a  great  thing  for  a  man  to  take  pleasure  in  whatever  lot  he 
finds  himself  cast  in.  This  is  the  secret  of  life ;  and  I  assure  you  I  find 
more  pleasure  in  thus  exercising  Rio,  and  witnessing  the  pleasure  it  affords 
him,  than  I  ever  did  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  honors  this  world  has  ever 
seen  fit  to  bestow  upon  me,  though  some  of  the  papers  say  that  no  man 
ever  retired  from  public  life  with  more  general  good  will  and  favor  than  I 
have.  So  be  it :  I  am  content ;  and  whether  it  be  so  or  not,  I  am  content." 

About  this  time  Mr.  Stephens,  who  had  heard  of  the  talents 
of  Mr.  Ward,  the  sculptor,  hunted  him  up  and  gave  him  his 
first  commission,  which  was  for  a  bust  of  himself.  For  this  he 
paid  four  hundred  dollars.  He  had  previously  had  one  taken 
by  Count  Sandors,  a  Polish  refugee,  and  artist  of  genius,  whose 
return  to  Poland  he  procured  by  his  interposition  with  the  Rus 
sian  Minister.  For  this  he  paid  six  hundred  dollars,  and  made 
it  a  present  to  an  intimate  friend.  The  Count,  it  may  be  men 
tioned,  was  assassinated  about  three  years  after  his  return. 

On  the  15th  of  March  he  writes  a  long  letter  to  R.  M.  J. 
After  speaking  of  his  severe  headaches  and  other  ailments,  he 
says,  in  reference  to  his  reaching  home : 

"  I  felt  like  a  mariner  after  a  long  and  perilous  voyage,  who,  once  more 
in  safety,  is  permitted  to  tread  the  firm  ground  about  his  own  mansion. 
God  willing,  he  will  remain  there.  This  is  my  feeling.  ...  I  feel  truly 
gratified  myself  that  my  public  services  have  been  closed  as  they  have. 
Few  men  have  passed  more  critical  junctures  with  more  uniform  success, 
and  none  in  my  knowledge  have  ended  their  careers  with  more  of  the  gen 
eral  good  will  and  esteem  of  men  of  all  parties  than  I  have.  This  is  no 
small  compensation  for  the  cares,  anxieties,  and  perplexities  attending  the 
labors  I  have  performed,  in  all  which  I  can  assure  you  I  have  looked  to 
nothing  so  much  as  the  public  good.  In  all  my  public  acts  that  has  been 
the  leading  object  and  controlling  motive.  The  remainder  of  my  days, 
whether  few  or  many,  I  wish  to  devote  to  objects  more  congenial  to  iny 
nature  than  looking  after  and  watching  the  interest  and  welfare  of  a  rest- 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  345 

less,  captious,  and  fault-finding  people.  It  is  true,  I  have  less  to  complain 
of  on  that  score  than  any  one  who  ever  occupied  the  position  I  have  so 
long.  Indeed,  I  do  not  complain  at  all.  Still,  it  is  more  agreeable  to  me 
to  look  after  my  own  affairs  than  other  people's.  In  this  course  I  shall  at 
least  be  free  from  that  intense  sense  of  responsibility  which  ever  pressed 
so  heavily  upon  me  while  occupying  a  post  of  public  trust  and  confidence." 

In  May  of  this  year  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Charles  J.  Mac- 
donald  caused  a  vacancy  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State.  There  were  many  applicants  for  the  post  among  the 
first  lawyers  of  the  State.  Lin  ton  Stephens  was  at  this  time 
only  thirty-five  years  of  age,  had  no  thought  of  applying  for 
the  appointment,  which,  indeed,  he  did  not  desire,  and  was 
greatly  surprised  when  it  was  offered  him  by  Governor  Brown. 
His  first  impulse  was  to  decline ;  but  at  the  urgent  instance  of 
his  brother  and  other  near  friends  he  accepted.  His  course 
upon  the  bench  fully  justified  the  appointment.  At  this  time 
the  court  had  several  places  for  its  sittings,  and  the  first,  after 
Linton's  appointment,  was  held  at  Athens  in  the  same  month. 
The  brothers  came  up  together  and  were  guests  of  the  present 
writer,  who  well  remembers  the  anxiety  of  the  elder  brother 
as  to  how  the  younger  would  acquit  himself  as  the  associate 
of  Chief-Justice  Lumpkin,  and  the  satisfaction  with  which  he 
noted  his  brother's  entire  fitness  for  the  place. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Stephens  had  a  great  deal  of  vexation  from 
an  unpleasant  domestic  matter.  Thomas  Ray,  who  managed 
his  plantation,  fell  into  bad  courses.  He  had  married  again 
after  his  first  wife's  death;  but  Mr.  Stephens  still  employed  him 
for  "Cousin  Sabra's"  sake.  He  is  now  becoming  a  drunkard, 
neglecting  his  duties,  and  otherwise  misbehaving,  so  as  to  try 
his  employer's  patience  sorely ;  and  yet  he  hates  to  discharge 
him, — hates  to  use  any  harshness  to  one  connected  in  so  many 
ways  with  "  auld  lang  syne."  The  difficulty  was  settled  by 
removing  him  from  the  control  of  the  homestead  and  putting 
him  on  another  place,  which  Mr.  Stephens  bought  for  the 
purpose. 

On  Mr.  Stephens's  retirement  from  Congress,  a  very  unusual 
compliment  had  been  paid  him  in  the  offer  of  a  public  dinner 
tendered  by  members  of  both  Houses,  without  distinction  of 


346  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

party,  headed  by  the  Vice-President  (in  his  capacity  of  President 
of  the  Senate)  and  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  as  a  testimony 
of  personal  esteem.  Business  engagements,  however,  compelled 
him  to  decline  the  honor. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  his  constituents  of  the  Eighth  District  of 
Georgia  gave  him  a  public  dinner  at  Augusta,  on  which  occasion 
he  delivered  a  farewell  address,  touching  upon  the  most  impor 
tant  points  of  his  public  life,  and  those  subjects  which  he  had 
taken  interest,  and  perhaps  gained  some  honor  in  promoting; 
and  to  none  with  more  satisfaction  to  himself  than  the  assistance 
he  had  given  in  1836,  on  his  first  entry  into  public  life,  to  the 
Female  College  at  Macon.  He  remarks  : 

11  Contrast,  for  a  moment,  in  your  minds,  the  condition  of  Georgia,  phys 
ically  and  intellectually,  in  1836,  when  I  first  entered  the  Legislature,  with 
her  condition  now.  The  change  seems  almost  equal  to  the  works  of  magic. 
Passing  by  those  material  developments  which  have  given  us  the  honor  of 
b.eing  styled  the  Empire  State  among  our  sisters  of  the  South,  take  but  a 
glance  in  another  department, — that  which  embraces  higher  and  nobler 
improvements.  Then,  there  was  but  one  college  in  the  State,  and  that, 
for  the  education  of  men.  Now,  we  have  five  times  that  number,  of  the 
same  character.  Then,  there  was  not  in  the  State,  or  in  the  world,  I  be 
lieve,  a  single  chartered  university  for  the  education  and  regular  gradua 
tion  of  women ;  I  mean  such  as  conferred  the  usual  college  degrees.  The 
Georgia  Female  College,  at  Macon,  incorporated  in  1836,  with  such  objects, 
purposes,  and  powers,  I  believe,  was  the  first  of  its  kind  anywhere.  The 
movement  at  the  time  was  the  occasion  of  amusement  to  some.  I  may  be 
pardoned  in  this  presence  in  saying  that  it  met  my  warm  support.  The 
experiment  proving  successful  beyond  the  expectation  of  its  most  sanguine 
friends,  the  example  became  contagious, — not  only  in  our  own  State,  but 
in  adjoining  States, — and  we  now  have  a  perfect  galaxy  of  these  brilliant 
luminaries,  sending  forth  their  cheering  beams  in  every  direction,  like  new 
stars  in  the  firmament  above,  just  brought  into  existence  in  the  progress 
of  creation.  Whatever  honor,  therefore,  Georgia  is  entitled  to  for  her 
other  great  works  of  improvement  and  achievement ;  and  however  broad, 
massive,  and  substantial  the  materials  may  be  that  enter  into  the  monu 
ment  reared  to  her  fame  ;  and  however  high  they  may  be  piled  up,  let  this 
still  be  at  the  top,  the  filling  and  crowning-point  of  her  glory,  that  she 
took  and  holds  the  lead  of  all  the  world  in  female  education." 

He  congratulated  the  country  upon  the  peaceful  settlement  at 
that  time  of  all  the  agitating  questions  which  were  disturbing 
the  country  when  he  entered  Congress  in  1843.  These  were 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  347 

settled  on  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  Cincinnati  platform,  and 
by  adherence  to  those  there  was  a  bright  prospect  of  peace  for 
the  country;  but  if  they  departed  from  them,  they  might  expect 
disaster. 

"Our  safety,"  said  he,  "as  "well  as  our  future  prospects,  depend  alto 
gether  upon  rigid  adherence  to  those  principles,  and  the  adjustment  effected 
by  them.  They  are  the  ship  on  which,  as  Paul  said,  '  Except  ye  abide,  ye 
cannot  be  saved.'  " 

This  speech  was  intended  as  a  solemn  warning  not  only  to  his 
constituents  and  the  people  of  the  South,  but  the  whole  country, 
that  in  his  opinion  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country  de 
pended  upon  a  strict  and  inflexible  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  the  adjustment  measures  of  1850  upon  the  subject  of  slavery, 
as  carried  out  and  expressed  in  the  Democratic  Baltimore  plat 
form  of  1852,  with  the  additional  plank  inserted  in  the  Cincin 
nati  Convention  of  1856.  It  was  well  known  then  that  Mr. 
Stephens  had  serious  apprehensions  that  those  principles  would 
be  departed  from  in  the  next  Democratic  Convention  to  be  held 
in  Charleston  the  following  year.  It  was  also  known  that  he 
did  not  finally  determine  to  withdraw  from  Congress  until  after 
a  personal  interview  with  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  which  he  had  urged 
the  President  to  cease  his  warfare  against  Mr.  Douglas,  and  the 
support  of  the  paper  known  as  his  organ  in  Washington  in  in 
sisting  upon  the  insertio-Q-of  A  new  plank  in  the  next  Convention, 
asserting  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  acts  to  protect 
slavery  in^tl^T£mtories,_a,nd  not  to  leave  that  subject,  as 
Cincinnati  platform  had  done,  with"  the  people  of  the  Territories. 
Mr.  Stephens  most  urgently  assured  the  President  that  if  he 
continued  to  pursue  the  line  of  policy  he  was  then  following 
there  would  be  a  burst-up  at  Charleston,  and  with  that  a  burst- 
up  of  the  Union, — temporary  or  permanent, — "as  certainly  as 
he  would  break  his  neck  if  he  sprang  from  that  window"  [of 
the  reception-room  at  the  White  House,  in  which  they  were  con 
versing]  "  or  as  that  the  sun  would  set  that  night.77  Mr.  Buch 
anan  seemed  surprised  at  this  opinion,  but  was  unshaken  in  his 
determination  to  adhere  to  the  policy  he  was  then  following. 
Mr.  Stephens,  in  taking  leave,  told  the  President  that  his  object 


348  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

in  seeking  the  interview  was  to  know  if  his  purpose  was  as 
stated,  and  if  that  was  so,  his  own  intention  was,  not  to  allow 
himself  to  be  returned  to  the  next  Congress.  He  had  spent 
sixteen  years  of  life  in  striving  to  maintain  the  Union  upon  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution ;  this  he  thought  could  be  done 
for  many  years  to  come  upon  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  Cin- 
cijinati  platform.  The  Government  administered  on  these  prin 
ciples  he  thought  the  best  in  the  world ;  but  if  it  was  departed 
from,  he  saw  nothing  but  ruin  ahead.  He  did  not  wish  to  be 
in  at  the  death ;  but  if  disunion  should  come  in  consequence  of 
this  departure,  he  should  go  with  the  people  of  his  own  State. 

Another  fact  connected  with  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Stephens 
from  Congress  may  be  noted  here.  When  leaving  Washington, 
with  a  number  of  other  Southern  members,  on  the  beautiful 
morning  of  the  6th  of  March,  1859,  he  stood  at  the  stern  of  the 
boat  for  some  minutes,  gazing  back  at  the  Capitol,  when  some 
one  jocularly  said,  "I  suppose  you  are  thinking  of  corning  back 
to  those  halls  as  a  Senator."  (It  was  known  that  he  had  an 
nounced  his  intention  not  to  return  as  a  Representative.)  Mr. 
Stephens  replied,  with  some  emotion,  "  No ;  I  never  expect  to 
see  Washington  again,  unless  I  am  brought  here  as  a  prisoner 
of  war."  This  was  literally  fulfilled  in  the  latter  part  of 
October,  1865,  when  he  passed  through  Washington  on  his  way 
to  his  home  as  a  paroled  prisoner  from  Fort  W^arren. 

His  peculiar  fondness  for  dogs,  often  referred  to,  finds  ex 
pression  again  in  a  letter  of  July  17th,  in  which  he  speaks  of  a 
little  dog,  formerly  the  pet  of  "  Cousin  Sabra"  Ray,  which  had 
been  bitten  by  a  snake  the  day  before. 

"  Last  night  he  wandered  off  below  the  vineyard  and  there  breathed  his 
last.  I  could  but  wonder  if  the  poor  dog  was  trying  to  get  to  the  grave 
of  his  mistress,  that  his  last  resting-place  might  be  near  hers.  Why  should 
he  have  gone  in  that  direction?  Why  quit  the  house,  which  he  seldom 
left?  Yet,  who  can  suppose  that  the  dog  knew  anything  about  where  his 
mistress  was  laid?  All  this  is  a  foolish  conjecture  ;  and  yet,  what  unac 
countable  instincts,  when  death  was  upon  him,  prompted  him  to  go  off 
there  to  die  ?  Poor  dog  I  I  almost  wept  myself  when  I  heard  he  was 
dead.  I  seldom  saw  him  without  thinking  of  Cousin  Sabra." 

Mr.  J.,  being  Professor  of  English  Literature  in  the  State 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  349 

University,  invited  Mr.  Stephens  to  deliver  the  usual  address 
upon  the  presentation  of  the  medals  at  the  Sophomore  prize 
declamations.  He  accepted;  but  afterwards  found  himself  in 
great  perplexity  about  it,  and  wrote  that  he  was  "  a  fool  for  ac 
cepting  any  such  position."  He  came  to  the  Commencement, 
still  much  troubled  about  what  one  would  have  thought  a  mere 
trifle  to  so  practised  a  speaker.  By  the  day  before  Commence 
ment  he  had  written  out  an  address,  but  had  not  memorized  it. 
On  the  morning  of  the  day,  the  professor  (whose  guest  he  was) 
went  into  his  room  before  breakfast,  and  found  him  dressed,  and 
in  quite  a  sprightly  frame  of  mind.  To  the  inquiry  how  he  had 
slept,  he  replied  that  he  had  not  closed  an  eye  all  night,  having 
spent  the  hours  in  committing  his  speech  to  memory  !  When 
the  time  came,  he  delivered  the  address  precisely  as  it  was 
written. 

During  all  the  fall  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  suffered  much, 
though  he  gave  constant  attention  to  his  business,  which  was 
large,  and  involved  many  journeys  to  courts  and  elsewhere.  At 
the  time  he  went  to  Congress  he  was  worth  about  fourteen 
thousand  dollars.  During  the  sixteen  years  he  was  at  Congress 
his  law-office  was  closed;  and  when  he  left  Congress  he  was 
worth  about  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  the  increase  having  arisen 
from  a  small  accumulation  of  interest.  During  the  two  years 
following  he  made  twenty-two  thousand  dollars  at  his  profession. 

A  rule  adopted  by  him  in  entering  Congress  in  1843,  was  not 
to  make  a  dollar  in  Washington  beyond  his  salary.  For  all  his 
services  rendered  to  his  constituents  before  the  Departments,  as 
well  as  the  Supreme  Court,  when  Congress  was  in  session,  re 
covering  for  them  upwards  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
he  would  never  receive  a  dollar,  though  compensation  was  often 
urged  upon  him  by  his  constituents,  who  averred  that  they  would 
never  have  committed  their  business  to  him  if  they  had  known 
thatjhe  would  not  charge  as  regular  attorneys  did  for  similar 
services.  """""He  never  took  a  case  into  one  of  his  State  courts  while 
he  was  in  Congress ;  though  during  that  period  he  often  ap 
peared,  as  an  advocate  only,  on  trial  of  causes ;  but  always 
refused  to  engage  himself  as  such  advocate,  if  that  duty  would 
conflict  with  his  duties  at  Washington.  In  this  way  he  made 


350  L1FE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

considerable  sums,  often  as  much  as  two  thousand  dollars  at  a 
time ;  all  which  he  devoted  to  charitable  purposes,  aiding  in 
building  churches,  and  in  the  education  of  young  persons  without 
means,  as  before  stated. 

The  last  word  we  have  from  his  pen  this  year  is  this:  "I  like 
law  better  than  politics,  but  like  being  at  home  better  than  either  ; 
and  am  now  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  very  soon  I  shall  quit 
the  courts,  and  devote  all  my  time  to  myself,  or  with  myself. 
Not  this  year;  but  very  soon, — if  I  live."  The  fates,  however, 
had  determined  otherwise. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

The  Family  at  Liberty  Hall — A  Cautious  Passenger — Favors  the  Nomi 
nation  of  Mr.  Douglas — Charleston  Convention — Baltimore  Convention, 
,  and  the  Split  in  the  Democratic  Party — Four  Candidates  in  the  Field — 
Mr.  Stephens's  Views  and  Apprehensions — Letter  of  Advice— The  Plan 
of  Safety— Duty  of  the  Party — Sickness — Signs  of  Approaching  Rabies — 
"  He  is  Insane  !" — Election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Feeling  at  the  South — 
Speech  at  Milledgeville — Impression  produced — Anecdote — Letters  from 
Northern  Men — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Lincoln. 

WHEN  Mr.  Stephens  thus  settled  down  into  domestic  life  for 
the  rest  of  his  days,  as  he  fondly  imagined,  it  was  not  to  pass 
those  days  in  solitude.  Though  a  bachelor,  he  had  a  little  family 
at  Liberty  Hall.  One  member  of  this  family  was  Mr.  George 
F.  Bristow,  a  young  man  whom  he  had  assisted  in  his  education, 
and  who  was  then  a  lawyer  of  distinction  in  the  county ;  the 
other  was  Mr.  Quinea  O'Neal,  jocularly  termed  "  the  Parson." 
A  great  many  of  the  letters  to  Linton  are  filled  with  humorous 
descriptions  of  domestic  scenes  at  the  Hall.  They  are  generally 
given  in  dramatic  form,  and  each  character  and  incident,  even 
down  to  the  part  in  the  scenes  taken  by  Pup,  Rio,  and  Troup 
(the  dogs),  is  very  vividly  set  forth.  Much  of  the  fun  hinges 
on  the  dry  caustic  humor  of  "the  Parson,"  as  he  is  called.  Mr. 
O'Neal  had  been  Ordinary  of  the  county  for  about  thirty  years, 
and  was  greatly  respected  and  liked  in  the  town,  not  only  for  his 
high  moral  character,  but  also  for  his  cordial  and  familiar  inter 
course  with  the  young  men  of  the  neighborhood,  whom  he  often 
very  good-naturedly  and  pleasantly  lectured,  especially  those  who 
gave  promise  of  talent  and  usefulness.  Among  these  was  John 
Bird,  Linton's  cousin.  Bird,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  was 
a  young  man  of  brilliant  talents,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  that 
class  of  young  men  to  whom  Mr.  O'Neal  gave  most  of  his  at 
tention.  It  was  Bird  who  gave  the  sedate  and  didactic  old 
Ordinary  the  sobriquet  of  "  Parson,"  though  he  was  never  con- 

351 


352  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

nected  with  any  church.  The  u  Parson"  became  an  inmate  of 
Mr.  Stephens's  family  by  his  invitation,  after  the  death  of  his 
wife,  and  is  known  not  only  by  the  visitors  to  Liberty  Hall,  but 
all  over  the  State.  The  most  devoted  friendship  existed  between 
him  and  the  brothers,  and  he  has  ever  claimed  no  small  part  in 
moulding  the  characters  of  both. 

January  29th. — He  had  received  a  letter  from  Linton,  show 
ing  great  depression  of  spirits,  on  account  of  the  loss  of  his 
wife,  and  it  had  affected  him  deeply. 

"  I  have  been  down  to  the  old  homestead  place,  over  the  play-grounds 
and  work-grounds  of  my  youth.  These  but  brought  in  review  their 
many  soul-touching  memories.  You  cannot  conceive  how  deeply  I  am 
touched  by  your  tone  of  depression.  But  what  can  I  say  for  your  relief? 
Nothing — absolutely  nothing.  That  must  come  from  yourself,  and  from 
Him  in  whose  hands  we  all  are  held.  Sometimes  I  am  totally  bewildered, 
as  if  stunned  by  the  incomprehensibilities  around  me.  However,  I  recover 
with  the  confidence  that  all  will  be  right  in  the  end,  if  I  do  my  duty. 
This  is  the  only  light  by  which  my  faith  is  guided.  This  is  my  only  stay, 
my  only  staff.  The  calls  of  duty,  activity,  and  exertion  keep  me  up,  and 
they  are  all  that  do.  But  for  a  will  which  I  believe  few  possess,  and  for 
which  I  am  truly  thankful.  I  should  long  since  have  sunk  into  hopeless 
despair.  But  that  will  seems  sometimes  weak  and  faltering,  as  it  does  this 
day.  Shall  it  fail  me?  I  trust  not.  But  who  can  tell?  .  .  .  Shall  I  be 
able  to  hold  on  to  the  end?  That  is  the  question.  For  twenty-odd  years 
you  have  been  the  polar  star  of  my  existence.  In  you  all  my  hopes  have 
been  centred.  Should  you  by  any  means  be  removed  from  me,  I  fear  my 
stay,  my  staff,  would  break.  You  may  know,  therefore,  how  keenly  Jfeel 
anything  that  concerns  you." 

During  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  was  very  actively  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  which  was  now  quite  lucrative,  as 
stated. 

In  many  of  his  letters  to  K.  M.  J.  there  are  allusions  to  his 
cases.  One,  tried  before  the  Supreme  Court,  was  the  appeal  of 
a  man  indicted  for  murder  and  found  guilty  by  the  lower  court. 
Mr.  Stephens  was  his  counsel,  and  the  former  judgment  was 
reversed.  He  expresses  his  gratification  at  this  result,  partly 
because  he  did  not  believe  his  client  guilty  of  murder,  and 
partly  because,  as  he  says,  "  I  had  never  defended  a  man  that 
was  hung,  and  I  did  not  wish  this  prestige  broken." 

The  Democratic  Convention  for  the  Presidential  nomination 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS,  353 

was  to  meet  in  Charleston  in  April.  Mr.  Stephens  had  re 
peatedly  expressed  his  determination  to  avoid  henceforth  all 
public  connection  with  politics.  We  have  seen  from  his  letters 
during  the  last  session  how  little  hope  he  felt  in  the  triumph  of 
just  principles,  and  with  what  apprehension  he  viewed  the 
general  lack  of  statesmanship  and  patriotism.  To  a  friend  who 
asked  him  why  he  had  withdrawn  from  public  life,  he  answered, 
f' When  I  am  on  one  of  two  trains  coming  iir  opposite  directions 
?on  a  single  track,  both  engines  at  high  speed,  and  both  engineers 
[drunk,  I  get  off  at  the  first  station."  But  notwithstanding  his 
expressed  determination,  there  were  many  who  desired  that  he 
should  be  put  in  nomination  for  the  Presidency.  To  those  who 
applied  to  him  on  the  subject,  he  invariably  replied  that  he  did 
not  wish  his  name  brought  before  the  Charleston  Convention  ; 
and  while  he  was  anxious  that  the  Convention  should  agree 
upon  a  candidate  on  a  proper  platform  of  principles,  such  as 
those  of  1856,  his  own  determination  not  to  attend  was  final. 
Among  the  more  prominent  aspirants  he  preferred  Mr.  Douglas. 
Notwithstanding  that  the  latter  opposed  the  policy  of  the  ma 
jority  of  the  Democratic  party  on  the  question  of  the  admission 
of  Kansas,  yet  Mr.  Stephens  believed  him  a  sincere  patriot 
and  the  foremost  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  States  under 
the  Constitution.  He  thought,  too,, that  with  the  old  platform 
of  1856  unaltered,  Mr.  Douglas  would  be  the  most  available 
candidate. 

Among  Mr.  Stephens's  political  opponents  there  were  some 
who  suspected  him,  notwithstanding  his  declarations,  of  secretly 
plotting  to  secure  the  nomination.  Early  in  the  spring,  the 
editor  of  a  newspaper  in  Governor  Cobb's  interest  wrote  to  him 
on  the  political  situation,  and  Mr.  Stephens  replied,  giving  his 
views  in  reference  to  the  approaching  Convention.  Among 
other  things,  he  declared  his  entire  willingness  to  support  Mr. 
Cobb,  should  he  be  the  nominee.  This  editor,  through  a  com 
mon  friend,  asked  permission  of  Mr.  Stephens  to  publish  the 
letter,  on  the  ground  that  such  a  publication  would  place  Mr. 
Stephens  on  a  right  footing  in  the  minds  of  many  who  did  not 
fully  understand  his  position.  In  reply  he  wrote  to  the  friend 
alluded  to : 

23 


354  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

"  I  cannot  consent  to  the  publication  o^  the  letter.  It  was  not  written  for 
the  public.  While  it  contains  nothing  that  I  should  care  about  the  public 
seeing,  if  they  had  any  business  with  it,  yet  they  have  none  5  and  for  this 

reason  I  am  opposed  to  any  such  personal  exhibition  of  myself.     Mr, 

urges  as  a  reason  for  it  that  it  will  set  me  right  with  many  persons  in  that 
section  of  the  State.  On  this  point  I  am  indifferent.  So  I  am  right  with 
myself,  I  care  but  little  for  the  opinions  of  others.  ...  I  have  a  great 
repugnance  to  figuring  before  the  public  on  any  such  questions.  If  I 
have  to  suffer  from  the  unjust  suspicions  of  some  which  the  publication 
of  the  letter  might  remove,  I  should  but  subject  myself  to  the  criticisms 
of  others  for  the  indulgence  of  a  personal  vanity  in  obtruding  myself 
upon  the  public  in  a  way  and  at  a  time  uncalled  for.  So  it  is  better  to 
bide  my  fortunes,  and  let  time  effect  its  own  cure  for  all  the  evils  incident 
to  a  straightforward  course  in  all  things.  This  has  been  my  rule  of  action 
from  the  beginning  of  this  controversy,  and  I  intend  to  abide  by  it." 

The  Charleston  Convention  met,  and  matters  were  at  once 
brought  to  an  issue  by  the  party  opposed  to  Mr.  Douglas  offer 
ing  a  resolution  which  contained  the  new  "plank"  which  it 
was  proposed  to  insert  into  the  Democratic  platform.  It  ran  as 
follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  government  of  a  Territory  organized  by  the  act  of 
Congress  is  provisional  and  temporary ;  and  during  its  existence  all  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  have  an  equal  right  to  settle  with  their  property 
in  the  Territory  without  their  rights,  either  of  person  or  property,  being 
destroyed  or  impaired  by  Congressional  or  Territorial  legislation." 

These  words,  "  Territorial  legislation,"  were  aimed  at  the 
"  Squatter  Sovereignty"  doctrine,  as  it  was  called,  of  Mr. 
Douglas  and  those  who  held  with  him  that  the  people  of  a 
Territory  had  the  right  of  regulating  their  local  affairs.  The 
resolution  was  rejected,  upon  which  a  number  of  the  delegates 
withdrew,  and  called  a  Convention  to  meet  at  Richmond  on  the 
second  Monday  in  June.  The  remaining  delegates  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Baltimore  on  the  18th  of  June;  and  the  Richmond 
Convention,  after  assembling,  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  same 
time  and  place  as  the  regular  Convention.  At  the  meeting  in 
Baltimore  another  split  took  place.  The  regular  Convention 
nominated  Messrs.  Douglas  and  Fitzpatrick ;  but  the  latter 
declining,  the  nomination  for  the  Vice-Presidency  was  given 
to  Mr.  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  The  "  bolters"  adopted 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  355 

the  Cincinnati  platform,  with  the  Charleston  Resolution,  and 
nominated  Breckenridge  and  Lane. 

Previously  to  this  a  third  party  had  put  in  nomination 
Messrs.  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  and  Everett,  of  Massachusetts ; 
and  the  Republicans  at  Chicago  afterwards  nominated  Messrs. 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  and  IJamlin,  of  Maine. 

Thus  there  were  four  sets  of  candidates  in  the  field ;  but  the 
division  only  weakened  the  South,  as  none  of  the  candidates 
opposed  to  Mr.  Lincoln  was  able  to  carry  a  single  Northern 
State. 

After  the  dissolution  at  Charleston,  Mr.  Stephens  lost  all 
hope  of  a  settlement  of  the  dissensions  of  the  party.  On  the 
6th  of  May  he  thus  wrote  to  R.  M.  J. : 

"  As  to  the  blow-up  at  Charleston,  all  I  can  say  is  that  I  deeply  regret 
it,  though  I  was  not  much  disappointed  with  it.  The  country  is  in  a  bad 
state,  much  worse  than  the  people  are  aware  of.  This  may  be  the  begin 
ning  of  the  end.  ...  I  am  sorry  things  are  as  they  are  ;  sorry  as  I  should 
be  to  see  the  paroxysms  of  a  dear  friend  in  a  fit  of  delirium  tremens.  On 
such  occasions  it  is  useless  to  indulge  in  complaints  or  upbraidings ;  the 
only  question  is,  can  any  relief  be  afforded?  But  enough.  I  am  taken 
up  with  plantation  business  and  with  law  business,  and  have  but  little 
time  to  devote  to  public  affairs.  I  can  get  along  with  any  sort  of  govern 
ment  as  well  as  anybody  else." 

Shortly  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Mr.  Johnston  paid  a 
visit  to  Mr.  Stephens  and  had  a  long  conversation  with  him. 
Some  things  that  he  said  were  so  striking  that  they  were  after 
wards  noted  down ;  and  from  these  notes  we  append  an  extract. 

MR.  J. — li  Well,  the  Charleston  Convention  has  adjourned  without  a 
nomination.  What  do  you  think  of  matters  noAv?" 

MR.  S. — "  Think  of  them  ?  Why,  that  men  will  be  cutting  one  another's 
throats  in  a  little  while.  In  less  than  twelve  months  we  shall  be  in  a 
war.  and  that  the  bloodiest  in  history.  Men  seem  to  be  utterly  blinded  to 
the  future.  You  remember  my  reading  to  you  a  letter  which  I  wrote  to  a 
gentleman  in  Texas,  asking  the  use  of  my  name  in  his  State  as  a  candi 
date  for  the  Presidency?" 

MR.  J. — "  The  one  in  which  you  said  that  we  should  make  the  Charles 
ton  Convention  a  Marathon  or  a  Waterloo?" 

MR.  S.— "  Yes.     Well,  we  have  made  it  a  Waterloo." 

MR.  J. — "  Do  you  not  think  that  matters  may  yet  be  adjusted  at  Balti 
more?" 


356  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

MR.  S. — "  Not  the  slightest  chance  for  it.  The  party  is  split  forever. 
Douglas  will  not  retire  from  the  stand  he  has  taken,  and  the  party  will 
nominate  somebody  else.  The  only  hope  was  at  Charleston.  If  the  party 
could  have  agreed  there  we  might  carry  the  election.  As  it  is,  the  cause 
is  hopelessly  lost.  The  election  cannot  be  carried  without  the  support  of 
Douglas." 

MR.  J. — "  I  hope  he  will  give  his  support  yet." 

MR.  S.— "Never." 

MR.  J. — "What  a  misfortune  it  was  that  he  did  not  support  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution." 

MR.  S. — "Yes.  But  he  knew,  as  all  men  knew,  that  it  was  procured 
by  stratagem.  I  supported  it,  not  in  consideration  of  any  matters  con 
nected  with  its  formation,  except  that  it  was  framed  in  strict  and  technical 
conformity  with  the  enabling  act.  I  thought  it  ought  to  be  adopted,  and 
think  so  yet,  because  it  gave  us  only  what  we  were  entitled  to  under  the 
Kansas  Act." 

MR.  J. — "You  think  Douglas  entitled  to  the  nomination?" 

MR.  S. — "  I  won't  say  that  he  is  entitled  to  it ;  but  I  will  say  that  he  is 
one  of  the  foremost  defenders  of  constitutional  rights  in  the  country.  And 
then  his  name  has  been  the  strongest  in  two  Conventions.  He  voluntarily 
withdrew  it  in  1852  5  the  same  in  1856.  I  suppose  he  has  made  up  his 
mind  not  to  withdraw  it  a  third  time.  The  greatest  alleged  objections  to 
Douglas  are  his  ambition  and  the  hordes  of  office-seekers  that  are  in  his 
suite.  If  the  party  would  be  satisfied  with  the  Cincinnati  platform,  and 
would  cordially  nominate  Douglas,  we  should  carry  the  election ;  but  I 
repeat  to  you  that  is  impossible." 

MR.  J. — "  But  why  must  we  have  civil  war,  even  if  the  Republican 
candidate  should  be  elected?" 

MR.  S. — "  Because  there  are  not  virtue  and  patriotism  and  sense  enough 
left  in  the  country  to  avoid  it.  Mark  me,  when  I  repeat  that  in  less  than 
twelve  months  we  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  a  bloody  war.  What  is  to 
become  of  us  then  God  only  knows.  The  Union  will  certainly  be  dis 
rupted  ;  and  what  will  make  it  so  disastrous  is  the  way  in  which  it  will  be 
done.  The  Southern  people  are  not  unanimous  now,  and  will  not  lie,  on 
the  question  of  secession.  The  Republican  nominee  will  be  elected.  Then 
South  Carolina  will  secede.  For  me,  I  should  be  content  to  let  her  have 
her  own  way,  and  go  out  alone.  But  the  Gulf  States  will  follow  her 
example.  The  people  are  by  no  means  unanimous;  but  the  majorities 
will  follow  her.  They  are  what  we  will  start  off  with  in  our  new  nation, 
—the  Gulf  States  following  South  Carolina.  After  that  the  Border  States 
will  hesitate,  and  their  hesitation  will  encourage  the  North  to  make  war 
upon  us.  If  the  South  would  unanimously  and  simultaneously  go  out  of 
the  Union  we  could  make  a  very  strong  government.  But  even  then,  if 
there  were  only  Slave  States  in  the  new  confederacy,  we  should  be  known 
as  the  Black  Republic,  and  be  without  the  sympathy  of  the  world.  Still, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  357 

if  we  had  wise  and  patriotic  men,  and  men  that  were  statesmen,  we  could 
make  a  great  country  of  the  South." 

MR.  J. — 4k  Do  you  think  it  was  entirely  right  in  you  positively  to  forbid 
your  name  going  before  the  Charleston  Convention?" 

MR.  S. — "  Yes :  I  think  so,  decidedly.  The  Democratic  party  had  quite 
enough  men  from  whom  to  choose.  I  did  not  wish  the  office.  In  perfect 
sincerity  with  you,  I  should  exceedingly  dislike  to  be  President.  I  do  not 
wish  that  office  nor  any  other.  What  amazes  me  in  Douglas  is  his  desire 
to  be  President.  I  have  sometimes  asked  him  what  he  desired  the  office 
for.  It  has  never  yet  added  to  the  fame  of  a  single  man.  You  may  look 
over  the  list  of  the  Presidents :  which  of  them  made  any  reputation  after 
he  became  President  ?  Four  years,  or  even  eight,  are  too  short  a  time  to 
enable  a  man  to  pursue  a  policy  which  will  be  permanent  enough  to  give 
him  reputation.  Louis  Napoleon,  as  President  of  France  under  the  Con 
stitution,  could  have  made  no  reputation.  He  is  beginning  now  to  make 
it.  When  he  shall  have  been  where  he  is  as  long  again  as  he  has  been 
already,  he  may  then,  if  his  abilities  are  really  great,  become  illustrious. 
I  could  never  see  why  so  many  men  in  this  country  should  be  anxious  to 
be  President.  People  don't  generally  believe  me  in  what  I  say  about  my 
self  in  this  respect ;  but  that  is  all  very  indifferent  to  me.  Some  of  your 
people  in  Athens  will  insist  on  believing  that  I  opposed  the  nomination  of 
Governor  Cobb  by  the  State  Convention  at  Milledgeville.  I  had  nothing 
upon  earth  to  do  with  that,  neither  for  nor  against  him.  No,  sir ;  I  far 
prefer  living  here — right  here — to  being  President  of  the  United  States. 
If  I  had  loved  office  I  should  have  continued  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  That  office  to  me  is  preferable  to  the  Presidency.  If  I  were  ambi 
tious  to  make  a  reputation,  I  should  be  able  to  make  it  faster  in  that  place 
than  in  the  other." 

On  May  5th  of  this  year  a  letter  was  addressed  to  Mr. 
Stephens  by  thirteen  gentlemen  of  Macon,  expressing  their 
apprehensions  arising  from  the  discord  exhibited  in  the  Charles 
ton  Convention,  and  asking  his  counsel,  especially  with  reference 
to  the  adjourned  Convention  to  be  held  in  Baltimore.  As  his 
reply  embodies  completely  his  views  of  the  situation  and  its 
exigencies,  we  give  it  at  length  : 

"CRAWFORDVILLE,  GEORGIA,  May  9th,  1860. 

"  GENTLEMEN, — Your  letter  of  the  5th  inst.  was  received  last  night,  and 
I  promptly  respond  to  your  call  as  clearly  and  fully  as  a  heavy  press  of 
business  engagements  will  permit.  I  shall  endeavor  to  be  no  less  pointed 
and  explicit  than  candid.  You  do  not,  in  my  judgment,  over-estimate  the 
importance  of  the  questions  now  pressing  upon  the  public  mind,  growing 
out  of  the  disruption  of  the  Charleston  Convention.  While  I  was  not 


358  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

greatly  surprised  at  that  result,  considering  the  elements  of  its  composi 
tion  and  the  general  distemper  of  the  times,  still  I  deeply  regret  it,  and, 
with  you,  look  with  intense  interest  to  the  consequences.  What  is  done 
cannot  be  undone  or  amended  :  that  must  remain  irrevocable.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  as  useless  as  ungracious  to  indulge  in  any  reflections  as  to 
whose  fault  the  rupture  was  owing  to.  Perhaps,  and  most  probably, 
undue  excitement  and  heat  of  passion  in  pursuit  of  particular  ends  con 
nected  with  the  elevation  or  overthrow  of  particular  rivals  for  preferment, 
more  than  any  strong  desire  guided  by  cool  judgment,  so  necessary  on 
such  occasions  to  advance  the  public  good,  was  the  real  cause  of  the  rup 
ture.  Be  that  as  it  may,  however,  what  is  now  to  be  done  and  what  is 
the  proper  course  to  be  taken?  To  my  mind  the  course  seems  to  be 
clear. 

"A  State  convention  should  be  called  at  an  early  day,  and  that  con 
vention"  should" consider  the  whole  subject  calmly  and  dispassionately, 
with  the  '  sober  second  thought,'  and  determine  whether  to  send  a  repre 
sentation  to  Richmond  or  to  Baltimore.  The  correct  determination  of  this 
question,  as  I  view  it,  will  depend  upon  another ;  and  that  is,  whether  the 
doctrine  of  non-intervention  b^Cpngre£s..s:itk- slavery  in  the- Territories 
-ought  to  be  adhered  to  or  abandoned  by  the  South.  This  is  a  very  grave 
and  seTious  question,  and  ought  not  to  be  decided  rashly  or  intemperately. 
No  such  small  matters  as  the  promotion  of  this  or  that  individual,  how 
ever  worthy  or  unworthy,  ought  to  enter  into  its  consideration.  It  is  a 
great  subject  of  public  policy,  affecting  the  vast  interests  of  the  present 
and  the  future.  It  may  be  unnecessary  and  entirely  useless  for  me  to 
obtrude  my  views  upon  this  question  in  advance  of  the  meeting  of  such 
convention  upon  whom  its  decision  may  primarily  devolve.  I  cannot, 
however,  comply  with  your  request"  without  doing  so  to  a  limited  extent 
at  least.  This  I  shall  do. 

*'  In  the  first  place,  then,  I  assume  as  an  unquestioned  and  unquestionabl'e 
fact  that  7ion-m^rvewfoow>.as.sJtated,4iasbeen  for  many  years  received,  recog- 
nizeoTanH  acted  upon  as  the  settled  doctrine  of  the  South.  By  non-interven 
tion,  I  mean  the  principle  that  Congress  shall  pass  no  law  upon  the  subject 
of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  either  for  or  against  it,  in  any  way, — that  they 
shall  not  interfere  nor  act  upon  it  at  all, — or,  in  the  express  words  of  Mr. 
Calhoun,  the  great  Southern  leader,  that  Congress  shall  '  leave  the  whole 
subject  where  the  Constitution  and  the  great  principles  of  self-government 
placed  it.'  This  has  been  eminently  a  Southern  doctrine.  It  was  an 
nounced  by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  his  speech  in  the  Senate  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1848  ;  and,  after  two  years  of  discussion,  was  adopted  as  the  basis  of  the 
adjustment  made  in  1850.  It  was  the  demand  of  the  South,  put  forth  by 
the  South,  and  since  its  establishment  finally  has  been  again  and  again 
affirmed  and  reaffirmed  as  the  settled  policy  of  the  South  by  party  conven 
tions  and  State  Legislatures,  in  every  form  in  which  a  people  can  give 
authoritative  expression  to  their  will  and  wishes.  This  cannot  be  matter 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  359 

of  dispute.  It  is  history,  as  indelibly  fixed  upon  the  record  as  the  fact 
that  the  colony  of  Georgia  was  settled  under  the  auspices  of  Oglethorpe, 
or  that  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution  was  fought  in  resistance  to 
the  unjust  claim  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  British  Parliament. 

u  I  refer  to  this  matter  of  history  connected  with  the  subject  under  con 
sideration  barely  as  a  starting-point, — to  show  how  we  stand  in  relation  to 
it.  It  is  not  a  new  question.  It  has  been  up  before,  and  whether  rightly 
or  wrongly,  it  has  been  decided, — decided  and  settled  just  as  the  South 
asked  that  it  should  be,— not,  however,  without  great  effort  and  a  prolonged 
struggle.  The  question  now  is,  Shall  the  South  abandon  her  own  position 
in  that  decision  and  settlement?  This  is  the  question  virtually  presented 
by  the  action  of  the  seceders  from  the  Charleston  Convention,  and  the 
grounds  upon  which  they  based  their  action  ;  or,  stated  in  other  words,  it 
amounts  to  this:  whether  the  Southern  States,  after  all  that  has  taken 
place  on  this  subject,  should  now  reverse  their  previous  course,  and  de- 
inand  Congressional  interventwn  for  the  protection i  of  slavery  in  the  Terri 
tories  as  a  condition  of  their  remaining  longer  in  the  Union?  For  I  take 
it  for  granted  that  it  would  be  considered  by  all  the  most  mischievous  folly 
to  make  the  demand,  unless  we  intend  to  push  the  issue  to  its  ultimate  and 
legitimate  results.  Shall  the  South,  then,  make  this  demand  of  Congress, 
and  when  made,  in  case  of  failure  to  obtain  it,  shall  she  secede  from  the 
Union,  as  a  portion  of  her  delegates  (some  under  instructions  and  some 
from  their  own  free  wrill)  seceded  from  the  Convention  on  their  failure  to 
get  it  granted  there  ? 

"  Thus  stands  the  naked  question,  as  I  understand  it,  presented  by  the 
action  of  the  seceders,  in  its  full  dimensions, — its  length,  breadth,  and 
depth,  in  all  its  magnitude. 

"  It  is  presented  not  to  the  Democratic  party  alone :  it  is  true  a  conven 
tion  of  that  party  may  first  act  on  it ;  but  it  is  presented  to  the  country, 
to  the  whole  people  of  the  South,  of  all  parties.  And  men  of  all  parties 
should  duly  and  timely  consider  it,  for  they  may  all  have  to  take  sides  on  it, 
sooner  or  later. 

"It  rises  in  importance  high  above  any  party  organization  of  the  pres 
ent  day,  and  it  may  and  ought  to,  if  need  be,  sweep  them  all  from  the 
board.  My  judgment  is  against  the  demand.  If  it  were  a  new  question, 
presented  in  its  present  light  for  the  first  time,  my  views  upon  it  might  be 
different  from  what  they  are.  It  is  known  to  you  and  the  country  that  the 
policy  of  non-intervention,  as  established  at  the  instance  of  the  South,  was 
no  favorite  one  of  mine.  As  to  my  position  upon  it,  and  the  doctrine  now 
revived,  when  they  were  original  and  open  questions,  as  well  as  my  pres 
ent  views,  I  will  cite  to  you  an  extract  of  a  speech  made  by  me  in  Augusta, 
in  July  last,  on  taking  final  leave  of  my  constituents.  I  could  not  re 
state  them  more  clearly  or  more  briefly.  In  speaking  of  and  reviewing 
this  matter,  I  then  said : 

"  '  And,  as  you  all  may  know,  [non-intervention]  came  short  of  whai  I  wished.  It 
was,  in  my  view,  not  the  full  measure  of  our  rights.  That  required,  in  my  judg- 


360  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

ment,  the  enactment  by  Congress  of  all  needful  laws   for  the  protection  of  slave 
l>reperty  in  the  Territories,  so  long  as  the  Territorial  condition  lasted. 

"'But  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  South  was  against  that  position.  It  was 
said  that  we  who  maintained  it  yielded  the  whole  question  by  yielding  the  jurisdic 
tion, — and  that,  if  we  conceded  the  power  to  protect,  we  necessarily  conceded  with 
it  the  power  to  prohibit.  This  by  no  means  followed,  in  my  judgment.  But  such 
was  the  prevailing  opinion.  And  it  was  not  until  it  was  well  ascertained  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  South  would  not  ask  for,  or  even  vote  for,  Congressional  pro 
tection,  that  those  of  us  who  were  for  it  yielded  to  non-intervention,  because,  though 
it  came  short  of  our  wishes,  yet  it  contained  no  sacrifice  of  principle, — had  nothing 
aggressive  in  it,  and  secured  for  all  practical  purposes  what  was  wanted,  that  is,  the 
unrestricted  right  of  expansion  over  the  common  public  domain,  as  inclination,  con 
venience,  or  necessity  may  require  on  the  part  of  the  people. 

"'Thus  the  settlement  was  made, — thus  the  record  stands;  and  by  it  I  am  willing 
still  to  stand,  as  it  was  fully  up  to  the  demands  of  the  South  through  her  represen 
tatives  at  the  time,  though  not  up  to  my  own;  and  as  by  it  the  right  of  expansion 
to  the  extent  of  population  and  capacity  is  amply  secured.' 

"  In  this  you  clearly  perceive  what  I  think  of  the  proper  course  now  to 
be  taken  on  the  same  subject.  While  in  the  beginning  of  this  controversy 
I  was  not  favorable  to  the  policy  adopted,  yet  I  finally  yielded  my  assent. 
It  was  yielded  to  the  South, — to  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  my  own  sec 
tion.  But  it  never  would  have  been  yielded  if  I  had  seen  that  any  of  our 
important  rights,  or  any  principle  essential  to  our  safety  or  security,  could 
by  possibility  result  from  its  operation.  Nor  would  I  now  be  willing  to 
abide  by  it  if  I  saw  in  its  practical  workings  any  serious  injury  to  the  South 
likely  to  result  from  it.  All  parties  in  the  South,  after  the  settlement  was 
made,  gave  it  the  sanction  of  their  acquiescence,  if  not  cordial  approval. 
What,  then,  has  occurred  since  to  cause  us  to  change  our  position  in  rela 
tion  to  it?  Is  it  that  those  of  the  North  who  stood  by  us  in  the  struggle 
from  1848  to  1850,  did  afterward  stand  nobly  by  us  in  1854  in  taking  off 
the  old  Congressional  restriction  of  1820,  so  as  to  have  complete  non-inter 
vention  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  common  public  domain? 
Was  this  heroism  on  their  part  in  adhering  to  principle  at  the  hazard  and 
peril  of  their  political  lives  and  fortunes  the  cause  of  present  complaint? 
This  cannot  be ;  for  never  was  an  act  of  Congress  so  generally  and  so 
unanimously  hailed  with  delight  at  the  South  as  this  one  was, — I  mean  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act  of  1854.  It  was  not  only  endorsed  by  all  parties  in 
Georgia,  but  every  one  who  did  not  agree  to  its  just  provisions  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery  was  declared  to  be  unfit  to  hold  party  associations  with 
any  party  not  hostile  to  the  interests  of  the  South.  What,  then,  is  the 
cause  of  complaint  now?  Wherein  has  this  policy  wrorked  any  injury  to 
the  South,  or  wherein  is  it  likely  to  work  any? 

"The  only  cause  of  complaint  I  have  heard  is  that  non-intervention,  as 
established  in  1850,  and  carried  out  in  1854,  is  not  understood  at  the  North 
as  it  is  at  the  South  ;  that  while  we  hold  that,  in  leaving  'the  whole  subject 
where  the  Constitution  and  the  great  principles  of  self-government  place 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  361 

it,'  the  common  Territories  are  to  remain  open  for  settlement  by  Southern 
people,  with  their  slaves,  until  otherwise  provided  by  a  State  constitution, — 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  the  same  doctrine  at  the  North  maintain  that, 
under  it,  thej3eople_oi 'an  organized  Territory  can  protect  or  exclude  slave 
property  before  the  formation  of  a  State  constitution.  This  opinion  or 
construction  of  their*  is  wliai  is  commonly  dubbed  'squatter  sovereignty.' 
"  Upon  this  point  of  difference  in  construction  of  what  are  '  the  great 
principles  of  self-government'  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
a  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written.  We  have  heard  of  it  in  the  social 
circle,  in  the  forum,  on  the  hustings,  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation.  The 
newspapers  have  literally  groaned  with  dissertations  on  it.  Pamphlets 
have  been  published  for  and  against  the  respective  sides.  Congress  has 
spent  months  in  its  discussion,  and  may  spend  as  many  years  as  they  have 
months  without  arriving  at  any  more  definite  or  satisfactory  conclusion  in 
relation  to  it  than  Milton's  perplexed  spirits  did  upon  the  abstruse  questions 
on  which  they  held  such  high  and  prolonged  debate  when  they  reasoned 

'Of  Providence,  foreknowledge,  will,  and  fate; 
Fixed  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge  absolute, 
And  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost.' 

11  It  is  not  now  my  purpose  to  enter  the  list  of  these  disputants.  My 
own  opinions  on  the  subject  are  known  ;  and  it  is  equally  known  that  this 
difference  of  opinion  or  construction  is  no  new  thing  in  the  history  of  this 
subject.  Those  who  hold  the  doctrine  that  the  people  of  the  Territories, 
according  to  the  great  principle  of  self-government,  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  can  exclude  slavery  by  Territorial  law,  and 
regulate  slave  property  as  all  other  property,  held  the  same  views  they 
now  do  when  we  agreed  with  them  to  stand  on  those  terms.  This  fact  is 
also  historical.  The  South  held  that  under  the  Constitution  the  Terri-r 
torial  Legislatures  could  not  exclude  slavery, — that  it  required  an  act  "of 
sovereignty  to  do  this.  Some  gentlemen  of  the  North  held,  as  they  now 
do,  that  the  Territorial  Legislatures  could  control  slave  property  as  abso 
lutely  as  they  could  any  other  kind  of  property,  and  by  a  system  of  laws 
could  virtually  exclude  slavery  from  among  them  or  prevent  its  introduc 
tion  if  they  chose. 

"  That  point  of  difference  it  was  agreed  by  both  sides  to  leave  to  the 
courts  to  settle.  There  was  no  cheat,  or  swindle,  or  fraud,  or  double- 
dealing  in  it.  It  was  a  fair,  honorable,  and  constitutional  adjustment  of 
the  difference.  No  assertion  or  declaration  by  Congress,  one  way  or  the 
other,  could  have  affected  the  question  in  the  least  degree :  for  if  the 
people,  according  to  '  the  great  principles  of  self-government'  under  the 
Constitution,  have  the  right  contended  for  by  those  who  espouse  that  side 
of  the  argument,  then  Congress  could  not  and  cannot  deprive  them  of  it. 
And  if  Congress  did  not  have,  or  does  not  have,  the  power  to  exclude 
slavery  from  a  Territory,  as  those  on  our  side  contended,  and  still  contend 


362  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

they  have  not,  then  they  could  not  and  did  not  confer  it  upon  the  Terri 
torial  Legislatures.  We  of  the  South  held  that  Congress  had  not  the  power 
to  exclude,  and  could  not  delegate  a  power  they  did  not  possess, — also  that 
the  people  had  not  the  power  to  exclude  under  the  Constitution,  and  there 
fore  the  mutual  agreement  was  to  take  the  subject  out  of  Congress  and 
leave  the  question  of  the  power  of  the  people  where  the  Constitution  had 
placed  it — with  the  courts.  This  is  the  whole  of  it.  The  question  in  dis 
pute  is  a  judicial  one,  and  no  act  of  Congress,  nor  any  resolution  of  any 
party  convention  can  in  any  way  affect  it,  unless  we  abandon  the  first 
position  of  non-intervention  by  Congress. 

"  But  it  seems  exceedingly  strange  to  me  that  the  people  of  the  South 
should,  at  this  late  day,  begin  to  find  fault  with  this  Northern  construction, 
as  it  is  termed,  especially  since  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the 
case  of  Dred  Scott.  In  this  connection  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I 
have  read  with  deep  interest  the  debates  of  the  Charleston  Convention, 
and  particularly  the  able,  logical,  and  eloquent  speech  of  the  Hon.  Win. 
L.  Yancey,  of  Alabama.  It  was,  decidedly,  the  strongest  argument  I  have 
seen  on  his  side  of  the  question.  But  its  greatest  power  wras  shown  in  its 
complete  answer  to  itself.  Never  did  a  man  with  greater  clearness  demon 
strate  that  '  squatter  sovereignty,'  the  bugbear  of  the  day,  is  not  in  the 
Kansas  Bill,  all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  This 
he  put  beyond  the  power  of  refutation.  But  he  stopped  not  there, — he 
went  on,  and,  by  reference  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  alluded 
to,  he  showed  conclusively,  in  a  most  pointed  and  thrilling  climax,  that 
this  most  frightful  doctrine  could  not,  by  possibility,  be  in  it,  or  in  any 
other  Territorial  bill, — that  it  is  a  constitutional  impossibility.  With  the 
same  master-hand  he  showed  that  the  doctrine  of  '  squatter  sovereignty' 
is  not  in  the  Cincinnati  platform  5  then  why  should  we  of  the  South  now 
complain  of  non-intervention  or  ask  a  change  of  platform? 

"  What  else  have  we  to  do  but  to  insist  upon  our  allies  standing  to  their 
agreement?  Would  it  not  have  been  much  more  natural  to  look  for 
flinching  on  their  side  than  on  ours?  Why  should  we  desire  any  other 
platform  of  principles  than  that  adopted  at  Cincinnati?  If  those  who 
stood  with  us  on  it  in  the  contest  of  1856  are  willing  still  to  stand  on  it, 
why  should  we  not  be  equally  willing?  For  my  life  I  cannot  see,  unless 
we  are  determined  to  have  a  quarrel  with  the  North  anyhow,  on  general 
account.  If  so,  in  behalf  of  common  sense,  let  us  put  it  upon  more 
tenable  grounds.  These  are  abundant.  For  our  own  character's  sake, 
let  us  make  it  upon  the  aggressive  acts  of  our  enemies,  rather  than  any 
supposed  short-comings  of  our  friends,  who  have  stood  by  us  so  steadfastly 
in  so  many  constitutional  struggles.  In  the  name  of  patriotism  and  honor, 
let  us  not  make  it  upon  a  point  which  may  so  directly  subject  us  to  the 
charge  of  breach  of  plighted  faith.  Whatever  may  befall  us,  let  us  ever 
be  found,  by  friend  or  foe,  as  good  as  our  word.  These  are  my  views, 
frankly  and  earnestly  given. 


LIFE   OF   ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  363 

"  The  great  question,  then,  is,  shall  we  stand  by  our  principles,  or  shall 
we,  cutting  loose  from  our  moorings  where  we  have  been  safely  anchored 
so  many  years,  launch  out  again  into  unknown  seas,  upon  new  and  perilous 
adventures,  under  the  guide  and  pilotage  of  those  who  prove  themselves 
to  have  no  more  fixedness  of  purpose  or  stability  as  to  objects  or  policy 
than  the  shifting  winds  by  which  we  shall  be  driven  ?  Let  this  question 
be  decided  by  the  Convention,  and  decided  with  that  wisdom,  coolness,  and 
forecast  which  become  statesmen  and  patriots.  As  for  myself,  I  can  say, 
whatever  may  be  the  course  of  future  events,  my  judgment  in  this  crisis 
is  that  we  should  stand  by  our  principles  '  through  woe'  as  well  as  '  through 
weal,'  and  maintain  them  in  good  faith,  now  and  always,  if  need  be,  until 
they,  we,  and  the  Republic  perish  together  in  a  common  ruin.  I  see  no 
injury  that  can  possibly  arise  to  us  from  them, — not  even  if  the  constitu 
tional  impossibility  of  their  containing  '  squatter  sovereignty'  did  not 
exist,  as  has  been  conclusively  demonstrated.  For,  if  it  did  exist  in  them, 
and  were  all  that  its  most  ardent  advocates  claim  for  it,  no  serious  prac 
tical  danger  to  us  could  result  from  it. 

"  Even  according  to  that  doctrine,  we  have  the  unrestricted  right  of 
expansion  to  the  extent  of  population.  It  is  admitted  that  slavery  can, 
and  will  go,  under  its  operation,  wherever  the  people  want  it.  Squatters 
carried  it  to  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and 
Arkansas,  without  any  law  to  protect  it,  and  to  Texas  against  a  law  pro 
hibiting  it,  and  they  will  carry  it  under  this  doctrine  to  all  countries  where 
climate,  soil,  productions,  and  population  will  allow.  These  are  the  nat 
ural  laws  that  will  regulate  it  under  non-intervention,  according  to  that 
construction ;  and  no  act  of  Congress  can  carry  it  into  any  Territory 
against  those  laws,  any  more  than  it  could  make  the  rivers  run  to  the 
mountains  instead  of  the  sea.  If  we  have  not  enough  of  the  right  sort 
of  population  to  compete  longer  with  the  North  in  the-  colonization i_qf  new. 
Territories  and  States,  this  deficiency  can  never  be  supplied  by  any  such 
act  of  Congress  as  that  now  asked  for.  The  attempt  would  be  as  vain  as 
that  of  Xerxes  to  control  the  waters  of  the  Hellespont  by  whipping  them 
in  his  rage. 

"  The  times,  as  you  intimate,  do  indeed  portend  evil.  But  I  have  no 
fears  for  the  institution  of  slavery,  either  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it,  if  our 
people  are  but  true  to  themselves, — true,  stable,  and  loyal  to  fixed  prin 
ciples  and  settled  policy ;  and  if  they  are  not  thus  .true,  I  have  little  hope 
of  anything  good,  whether  the  present  Union  last  or  a  new  one  be  formed. 
There  is,  in  my  judgment,  nothing  to  fear  from  the  'irrepressible  conflict' 
of  which  we  hear  so  much.  Slavery  rests  upon  great  truths^which  can 
never  be  successfully  assailed  by  reason  or  argument.  ^  It  has  grown 
stronger  in  the  minds  of  men  the  more  it  has  been  discussed,  and  it  will 
still  grow  stronger  as  the  discussion  proceeds  and  time  rolls  on.  Truth 
is  omnipotent  and^  must  prevail.  We  have  only  to  maintain  the  truth 
with  firmness  and  wield  It  aright.  "Our  system  rests  upon  an  impregnable 


364  LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

basis,  that  can  and  will  defy  all  assaults  from  without.  My  greatest 
apprehension  is  from,  causes  within, — there  lies  the  greatest  danger.  ~We 
Have  grown  luxuriant  in  the  exuberance  of  our  well-being  and  unparalleled 
prosperity.  There  is  a  tendency  everywhere,  not  only  at  the  North,  but 
at  the  South,  to  strife,  dissension,  disorder,  and  anarchy.  It  is  against 
this  tendency  that  the  sober-minded  and  reflecting  men  everywhere  should 
now  be  called  upon  to  guard. 

__^My  opiniont  thent,is  that  delegates  ought  to  be  sent  to  the  adjourned 
Convention  at  Baltimore.  The  demand  made  at  Charleston  by  the  seceders 
ought  not  to  be  insisted  upon.  Harmony  being  restored  on  this  point,  a 
nomination  can  doubtless  be  made  of  some  man  whom  the  party,  every 
where,  can  support,  with  the  same  zeal  and  the  same  ardor  with  which 
they  entered  and  waged  the  contest  in  1856,  when  the  same  principles 
were  involved. 

"  If,  in  this,  there  be  a  failure,  let  the  responsibility  not  rest  upon  us. 
Let  our  hands  be  clear  of  all  blame.  Let  there  be  no  cause  for  casting 
censure  at  our  door.  If,  in  the  end,  the  great  national  Democratic  party, 
— the  strong  ligament  which  has  so  long  bound  and  held  the  Union  to 
gether, — shaped  its  policy  and  controlled  its  destinies, — and  to  which  we 
have  so  often  looked  with  a  hope  that  seldom  failed,  as  the  only  party 
North  on  which  to  rely,  in  the  most  trying  hours  when  constitutional 
rights  were  in  peril,  let  it  not  be  said  to  us,  in  the  midst  of  the  disasters 
that  in  ay  ensue,  '  you  did  it !'  In  any  and  every  event,  let  not  the  reproach 
of  Punic  faith  rest  upon  our  name.  If  everything  else  has  to  go  down, 
let  our  untarnished  honor,  at  least,  survive  the  wreck. 

"ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 

In  a  letter  of  May  23d,  to  K.  M.  J.,  lie  writes : 

"  I  greatly  fear  that  our  friends  in  Athens,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  have 
sowed  the  wind  and  may  reap  a  whirlwind  beyond  their  control.  I  have 
no  idea  that ,  or ,  or  thousands  of  others  who  favored  this  seces 
sion  movement,*  dreamed  of  the  consequences  of  this  misguided  course  of 
the  counsels  of  those  in  whose  judgment  they  placed  confidence.  All 
this  I  warned  them  of.  I  fear  it  is  now  too  late  to  save  them  from  the 
conflagration  their  random  sparks,  foolishly  and  wickedly  scattered  about 
in  the  midst  of  combustible  materials,  will  bring  upon  us.  What  is  to  be 
the  end  I  do  not  know  :  I  cannot  foresee.  But  if  there  ever  was  a  time  for 
wise,  prudent,  and  firm  men  to  speak  out  and  put  forth  all  their  energies, 
that  time  is  now.  The  indications  now  are  that  the  American  party  in 
Georgia  will  not  run  Bell.  They  will  fall  in  with  the  sectional  organiza 
tion  to  be  formed  at  Richmond.  Should  the  great  mass  of  the  Democratic 
party  South,  or  even  a  respectable  portion,  go  that  way,  the  nominee  of 

*  The  secession  of  the  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  other  delegations  from  the 
Charleston  Convention. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  365 

the  Baltimore  Convention  will  be  defeated,  let  him  be  who  he  may.  The 
election  will  be  thrown  into  the  House,  and  in  that  event,  in  the  present 
general  distemper  of  the  times,  I  doubt  if  we  ever  have  another  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  We  certainly  shall  not,  unless  the  men  who 
have  brought  these  evils  upon  us  change  their  present  line  of  policy.  And 
if  they  do,  they  will  then  be  denounced  as  bitterly  for  traitors  as  Douglas 


In  the  latter  part  of  this  month  Mr.  Stephens  spent  several 
days  with  Mr.  Johnston  at  Athens,  attending  the  Supreme  Court. 
One  morning  during  this  visit  he  was  suddenly  struck  with  ver 
tigo,  and  afterwards  suffered  from  it  during  the  whole  summer. 
Dr.  Moore,  of  Athens,  treated  his  case  with  nitric  acid,  from 
which  he  derived  benefit ;  but  all  the  following  letters  of  this 
year  contain  allusions  to  his  bad  health. 

On  June  19th  he  writes,  complaining  of  delays  and  irregu 
larities  in  the  mails,  which  he  is  disposed  to  look  upon  as  another 
instance  of  the  disjointedncss  of  the  times,  and  moral  profligacy 
of  public  servants : 

a  The  post-office  is  beginning  to  be  a  nuisance.  It  is  now  the  field  for 
almost  as  much  espionage  and  villainy,  from  the  prying  into  a  private  note 
to  the  stealing  of  a  package  of  bank-bills,  as  ever  the  same  institution  was 
in  Spain,  or  is  now  in  Cuba.  ...  I  have  no  idea  what  will  be  done  in 
Baltimore ;  my  conjecture  is  that  they  will  blow  up  in  a  row.  The  seced- 
ers  intended  from  the  beginning  to  rule  or  ruin  •,  and  when  they  find  that 
they  cannot  rule,  they  will  then  ruin.  They  have  about  enough  power  for 
this  purpose  ;  not  much  more  ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  they  will  use  it.  Envy, 
hate,  jealousy,  spite, — these  made  the  war  in  heaven,  which  made  devils 
of  angels,  and  the  same  passions  will  make  devils  of  men.  The  secession 
movement  was  instigated  by  nothing  but  bad  passions.  Patriotism,  in  my 
opinion,  had  no  more  to  do  with  it  than  love  of  Gnd  had  with  the  other 
revolt.  ...  I  am  always  more  or  less  an  invalid  in  summer.  Last  year 
was  the  exception  with  me.  I  enjoyed  better  health  that  summer  than  I 
ever  did  in  my  life,  taking  the  whole  summer  together.  I  have  no  hope 
of  doing  so  well  this  summer,  if  ever  again." 

July  12th. — "  I  am  surprised  that  anj^body  could  have  supposed  it  pos 
sible  for  me  to  support-th^~sece3er8^_nomination.  I_shiould  have  to  kfet 
ouTTTry  own  record  for  several  years  past  toUcTtliis.  Others  may  eat  their 
words,  but  I  do  not  feed  on  such  diet.  It  is  to  me  the  worst  sign  of  the 
times  to  see  so  many  of  our  public  men  doing  this  thing.  The  surest  sign 
that  a  dog  is  going  mad  is  to  see  him  eat  his  own  ordure ;  and  this  eating 
of  words  and  old  party  principles  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  like  sign  of  ap- 


366  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

preaching  rabies  among  the  people.     But  good-by.     I  am  out  of  politics, 
and  mean  to  stay  out." 

But  notwithstanding  his  firm  resolve  to  keep  out  of  politics, 
and  his  very  feeble  health,  his  extreme  anxiety  at  what  he  be 
lieved  to  be  the  greatest  peril  that  had  ever  menaced  the  country 
drew  him  to  take  a  part  in  the  Presidential  campaign  of  this 
year.  Of  these  speeches  only  one  has  been  reported, — a  very 
powerful  address  made  in  Augusta,  on  September  1st;  and 
during  its  delivery  he  was  compelled  to  pause  for  some  minutes 
from  sheer  exhaustion.  In  it  he  announced  his  belief  that  in 
less  than  six  months  the  country  would  be  convulsed  by  war. 
His  best  friends  thought  that  the  weakness  of  his  body  had 
mounted  to  his  head;  while  the  less  charitable  said,  "He  is 
insane !" 

The  excitement  produced  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  by 
a  purely  sectional  vote,  was  intense,  in  Georgia  as  well  as  in  the 
other  Southern  States.  Not  merely  the  fiery  spirits  who  had 
long  been  desirous  of  a  separation,  but  the  more  sober  and  far- 
seeing  began  to  ask  themselves  what  was  the  real  value  to  the 
South  of  that  Union  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  look 
upon  almost  with  idolatry,  as-if  it  were  in  itself  an  end,  instead 
of  being  only  the  means  toward  an  end.  True,  in  the  Union 
they  had  attained  great  prosperity ;  but  was  this  owing  to  the 
Union?  Had  it  not,  in  truth,  rather  been  accomplished  in  spite 
of  it?  One  great  advantage  which  the  friends  of  the  Union 
had  always  represented  as  cheaply  purchased  by  the  pecuniary 
sacrifice  which  this  connexion  entailed  on  the  South,  was  the 
strength  of  the  united  republics  against  a  foreign  enemy.  But 
in  the  two  wars  which  had  occurred  since  the  Union  was  formed, 
the  Northern  States — or  a  considerable  portion  of  them — had 
not  only  entered  with  reluctance,  but  had  shown  no  equivocal 
symptoms  of  refusing  to  bear  their  share  of  the  common  burden. 
Supposing  the  Southern  States  attacked  by  a  powerful  foe,  was 
it  so  very  improbable  that  the  North  might  decline  all  partici 
pation  in  the  contest? — nay,  might  they  not  make  common  cause 
with  the  enemy?  The  circumstances  attending  and  following 
the  atrocious  attempt  of  John  Brown,  and  the  sympathy  openly 
and  widely  expressed  for  that  malefactor,  made  such  a  suspicion 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  367 

by  no  means  unreasonable.  Then  the  recent  political  victories, 
such  as  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  Bill,  what  were  they  after  all 
but  the  concession  of  the  simplest  rights,  only  won  after  the 
fiercest  struggle,  and  held  by  the  most  precarious  of  tenures? 
Did  such  a  Union  offer  sufficient  advantages  to  tempt  them  to 
await  the  time,  certainly  not  very  far  distant,  when  the  North 
having  obtained  the  requisite  majority  in  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  would  have  the  South  hopelessly  at  her  mercy  ?  If,  as 
even  the  most  temperate  conceded,  such  a  state  of  affairs  would 
justify  separation,  even  though  it  had  to  be  effected  by  arms, 
why  wait,  when  every  day  increased  the  proportionate  strength 
of  their  adversary  ? 

It  was  while  thoughts  like  these  were  beginning  to  force  them 
selves  upon  even  moderate  and  prudent  men,  that  Mr.  Stephens 
was  invited  by  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  to  give  them  his  views 
and  counsel  in  this  great  crisis ;  and  he  addressed  them  on  the 
14th  of  November.  As  this  speech  is  one  of  the  most  important 
of  his  life,  and  fully  illustrates  his  views,  both  as  patriot  and  as 
statesman,  we  give  it  entire  in  the  Appendix.* 

The  effect  produced  by  this  speech  was  a  general  impression 
that  it  had  given  the  quietus  to  secession  in  Georgia.  The  Hon. 
T.  W.  Thomas,  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Stephens,  taking 
this  view  of  the  subject,  and  feeling  deep  mortification  and  cha 
grin  at  the  expected  result,  believing  that  Lincoln's  policy  would 
be  carried  out  without  resistance,  and  that  the  institutions  of  the 
South  would  be  overthrown,  sought  to  revive  his  spirits  by  giving 
a  social  dinner  at  a  hotel  in  the  city.  The  guests,  of  whom  Lin- 
ton  Stephens  was  one,  were  all  his  special  friends.  The  party 
sat  over  their  wine  until  a  late  hour,  when  just  before  breaking 
up,  Thomas  called  the  head-waiter,  a  colored  man,  and  taking 
from  his  pocket  a  silver  dollar,  said,  in  his  peculiar  vein  of 

% 

*  Appendix  B.  This  speech  was  made  off-hand,  and  the  stenographic 
report  is  very  imperfect.  At  its  close,  the  Hon.  Kobert  Toombs,  his  dis 
tinguished  opponent,  arose  and  said,  "Fellow-citizens,  we  have  just  listerjed 
to  a  speech  from  one  of  the  brightest  intellects  and  purest  patriots  that  now 
lives.  I  move  that  this  meeting  now  adjourn,  with  three  cheers  for  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia  !"  The  applause  thus  invoked  was  tremen 
dous. 


368  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

solemn  drollery,  "Here,  Charley,  my  friend,  and  soon  to  be  my 
fellow-citizen,  take  this  in  remembrance  of  me;  and  when  you 
come  to  your  kingdom,  do  unto  me  as  I  do  unto  you."  This 
was,  in  one  sense,  a  true  prophecy;  but  its  fulfilment  came  from 
a  source  directly  opposite  to  that  which  he  had  apprehended. 

We  turn  again  to  the  correspondence : 

November  21st. — "  I  see  by  the  Constitutionalist'1'1  [the  leading  Demo 
cratic  paper  of  the  State]  "  of  last  night  that  my  plan  is  not  to  be  backed 
by  that  paper.  It  is  going,  I  suppose,  for  immediate  secession.  What  else 
to  make  of  it  I  do  not  know.  This  disheartened  me  a  good  deal.  I 
shall  patiently  wait  for  -further  developments,  and  shall,  in  the  mean  time, 
hold  on  to  my  line  of  policy  without  wavering  or  faltering.  I  think  it  is 
right.  If  that  paper  is  now  following  the  lead  of  Mr.  Toombs,  as  I  ap 
prehend,  I  do  not  know  what  he  meant  by  saying  that  he  did  not  want  the 
issue  in  our  election  to  be  made  on  union  or  disunion  per  se.  Why  did  he 
say  that  he  did  not  want  any  disunion  man  elected  to  the  Convention  ? 
Secession  or  separation  and  disunion  mean  the  same  thing.  I  do  not  see 
how,  under  the  idea  of  the  Constitutionalist,  the  Convention  can  be  chosen 
but  upon  the  issue  of  union  or  disunion  without  further  effort.  We  have 

/indeed  fallen  upon  sad  times  ;  and  I  doubt  if  there  is  enough  patriotism 
in  this  country  to  save  us  from  anarchy,  either  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it." 

\~Noveniber  23d. — "Yesterday  evening  I  had  a  visit  from  Banks,  formerly 
of  the  South  Side  Democrat  (Virginia)  ;  more  recently  from  Washington, 
a  leading  Douglas  man  in  the  late  nomination  and  canvass.  He  was  on 
his  way  from  Alabama  to  Washington,  and  called  to  see  me.  His  object 
seemed  to  be  to  get  the  run  of  Georgia  politics,  and  to  know  what  our 
State  would  do.  He  was  much  pleased  with  my  late  speech  at  Milledge- 
ville,  and  thinks  that  all  the  South,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Maryland, 
could  be  brought  to  the  line  of  policy  therein  indicated,  if  South  Carolina 
could  be  induced  to  hold  off  from  any  separate  rash  action.  He  wished 
me  to  write  to  Governor  Letcher,  and  get  him  to  convene  the  Virginia 
Legislature  at  an  earlier  day  than  that  announced,  in  order  to  send  a 
Commission  to  South  Carolina  before  their  Convention  sits.  I  told  him' 
that  Letcher  would  see  my  speech  ;  and  I  did  not  think  it  would  do  any 
good  to  write  to  him." 

November  SJfth. — "  We  had  a  county  meeting  to-day.  I  gave  them  a 
talk, — literally  a  talk.  My  cold  and  cough  were  so  bad  that  I  could  not 
speak.  The  meeting  was  large, — all  parties  out.  We  passed  resolutions  de 
claring  Lincoln's  election  no  cause  for  secession.,  and  approving  a  call  for  a 
State  Convention.  My  tall  took  well  with  the  people.  After  this  was  all 
over^a  motion  was  made  to  nominate  candidates  for  the  Convention.  Monk 
moved  that  Judge  Perkins  and  myself  be  unanimously  nominated.  This 
was  done.  But  I  do  not  yet  know  whether  I  shall  go  or  not.  I  have  not 


LIFE    OF   ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS.  3$ 9 

made  up  my  mind.     I  had  no  idea  of  any  such  nomination  being  made 
when  I  went  over  to  the  meeting." 

November  25th, — "On  my  return  last  evening  I  got  a  great  number  of 
letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  except  the  Western  States.  My 
speech,  I  find,  has  had  the  most  general  circulation  at  the  North,  I  sup 
pose,  of  any  speech  ever  made  in  the  United  States.  .  .  .  The  great  bulk 
of  the  letters  I  receive  are  in  relation  to  it,  and  every  one  in  the  highest 
commendation,  except  one.  That  one  was  from  a  Georgia  lady  in  New 
York.  She  don't  like  it.  She  is  for  immediate  unconditional  secession. 
Several  of  my  letters  are  from  Republicans ;  one  of  them  from  one  of 
Governor  Banks'  aides,  of  Massachusetts.  They  all  state  that  my  demands 
will  be  granted.  George  P.  Curtis,  from  Boston,  an  old  Webster  Whig, 
says  that  he  believes  Massachusetts  will  repeal  her  laws;  that  if  our  State 
would  send  a  proper  man  there,  it  would,  in  his  judgment,  be  done.  They 
intend,  at  any  rate,  to  make  the  effort ;  and  if  they  do  not,  we  would  be 
justified  in  quitting  the  Union.  ...  1  have  no  doubt  of  our  success,  if  we 
will  seek  the  redress  of  our  wrongs  in  the  right  spirit,  and  with  an  honest 
purpose.  But  my  apprehension  is  that  that  is  not  the  object  of  our  agita 
tors.  They  do  not  wish  a  redress  of  our  grievances.  .  .  .  We  are,  I  fear, 
in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  bent  upon  dissolution  at  all  hazards. 
Nothing  will  satisfy  them  but  to  get  out  of  the  Union  and  form  a  separate 
government.  I  have  great  apprehension  that  this  will  be  the  prevailing 
sentiment  of  our  Convention.  The  evil  genius  of  civil  discord  seems  to  be 
rampant." 

November  30th. — "  I  am  daily  becoming  more  and  more  confirmed  in  the 
opinion  that  all  efforts  to  save  the  Union  will  be  unavailing.  The  truth  is, 
our  leaders  and  public  men  who  have  taken  hold  of  this  question,  do  not 
desire  to  continue  it  on  any  terms.  They  do  not  wish  any  redress  of 
wrongs ;  they  are  disunionists  per  se,  and  avail  themselves  of  present 
circumstances  to  press  their  objects;  and  my  present  conviction  is  that 
they  will  carry  the  State  with  them  by  a  large  majority.  What  I  say  on 
this  point  is  for  your  own  reflection  only.  I  write  just  as  I  would  talk  to 
you,  that  you,  for  your  own  information,  may  know  what  I  think  of  the 
ultimate  course  of  events,  and  not  with  the  view  either  to  influence  your 
judgment  or  that  of  others,  much  less  their  action,  as  might  be  the  case 
were  my  opinions  known,  as  my  opinions  may  be  erroneous.  Let  the 
popular  will  be  as  fairly  represented  as  possible." 

December  3d. — "  Letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country  continue  to  pour" 
in  on  me.  I  find  it  impossible  to  answer  them  all.  'Last  night  I  got 
one  from  Richard  Brodhead,  of  Pennsylvania,  former  Senator.  He  was 
greatly  pleased  with  my  speech,  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  present 
Republican  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  would  immediately,  in  January, 
repeal  their  Personal  Liberty  Laws.  He  thinks  that  if  we  would  be 
moderate  as  well  as  firm,  all  will  be  right.  Other  letters,  of  the  most 
fulsome  character,  I  have  received,  from  Memphis,  Detroit,  New  York. 

24 


370  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

But  I  will  say  no  more.  I  fear  it  will  all  come  to  nought;  that  it  is  too  late 
to  do  anything  5  that  the  people  are  run  mad.  They  are  wild  with  passion 
and  frenzy,  doing  they  know  not  what. 

"  This  is  a  beautiful,  clear,  cool  day,  a  big  frost  in  the  morning  with  a 
considerable  freeze,  but  now  pleasant  and  charming.  The  air  is  still,  and 
all  things  look  pleasant  in  the  calm,  placid  sunshine.  If  I  were  well 
enough  to  be  out  in  it,  it  seems  that  I  should  rejoice  to  walk  abroad  in  such 
an  elastic  atmosphere.  But  I  can  only  indulge  in  fancy  as  I  peep  through 
my  windows,  sitting  as  I  am  by  a  comfortable  fire  with  Rio,  poor  fellow, 
sleeping  at  my  feet.  He  has  been  looking  for  me  to  go  out  with  him  for 
some  time,  until  he  got  wearied  at  that,  and  then,  child-like,  fell  asleep." 

December  22d. — '"  Frank  tells  me  that  some  of  the  Taliaferro  boys  have 
been  to  Augusta  this  week.  The  minute-men  down  there  are  in  a  rage  at 
Toombs's  letter.  They  say  that  he  has  backed  down,  that  they  intend  to 
vote  him  a  tin  sword.  They  call  him  a  traitor.  Poor  fools !  So  the  world 
goes.  I  see  that  some  of  the  secession  papers  have  given  him  a  severe 
railing.  Mr.  H.  says  his  letter  was  the  theme  of  constant  talk  on  the  cars, 
the  fire-eaters  generally  discussing  it,  and  saying  that  they  never  had  any 
confidence  in  him  or  Cobb  either.  So  the  world  again  goes.  These  are 
but  the  indications  of  the  fury  of  popular  opinion  when  it  once  gets 
thoroughly  aroused.  Those  who  sow  the  wind  will  reap  the  whirlwind." 

December  29th. — "  I  got  a  letter  from  Douglas  last  night,  requesting  my 
opinion  on  certain  propositions  of  adjustment  he  had  submitted  to  the 
Senate.  I  shall  write  to  him  to-day,  telling  him  that  I  have  no  idea  that 
the  South  would  be  satisfied  with  them,  the  ultra  men  especially ;  and  I 
do  not  think  any  considerable  portion  of  them  would  be  [agreed  to?]. 
I  should  not  approve  them  myself.  Better  let  all  things  remain  as  they 
are,  so  far  as  the  Constitution  is  concerned.  His  proposition  looks  to 
constitutional  amendments.  The  Constitution  as  it  is,  with  a  discharge  of 
all  its  present  obligations,  is  what  I  want." 

December  22d. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "I  hear  from  divers  quarters  that 
Mr.  Toombs's  late  letter  is  not  well  received  by  the  precipitators,  who 
call  him  all  sorts  of  names.  ...  So  far  from  his  letter  being  any  back 
down,  I  look  upon  it  as  a  master-stroke  to  effect  his  object.  He  has 
more  sense  than  any  man  in  this  movement.  But  from  this  effusion  of 
indignation  he  ought  to  catch  some  slight  glimmerings  of  what  he  may 
expect  when  his  object  is  accomplished,  and  he  attempts,  as  I  doubt  not 
he  would,  or  will,  to  build  up  a  new  government  on  sound  and  correct 
principles.  If  the  violent  cannot  now  see  his  motive,  how  shall  they 
appreciate  his  efforts  hereafter?  Just  as  the  Mountain  did  Mirabeau  in 
France." 

Among  the  letters  which  his  speech  at  Milledgeville  brought 
Mr.  Stephens  was  a  brief  note  from  the  President-elect,  asking 
for  a  revised  copy.  Mr.  Stephens  replied,  stating  that  he  had 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  37  J 

not  revised  it  further  than  looking  over  the  reporter's  notes, 
which  were  substantially  correct.    He  concluded  with  the  remark : 

"The  country  is  certainly  in  great  peril,  and  no  man  ever  had  heavier 
or  greater  responsibilities  than  you  have  in  the  present  momentous  crisis." 

Mr.  Lincoln  replied  in  a  letter  dated  December  22d,  and 
headed,  "For  your  own  eye  only," — an  injunction  strictly  ob 
served  by  Mr.  Stephens,  until  the  close  of  the  war  and  the 
death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  removed  all  necessity  for  further  secrecy, — 
of  which  these  are  the  words : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  obliging  answer  to  my  short  note  is  just  received, 
and  for  which  please  accept  my  thanks.  I  fully  appreciate  the  present 
peril  the  country  is  in,  and  the  weight  of  responsibility  on  me. 

"  Do  the  people  of  the  South  really  entertain  fears  that  a  Republican 
Administration  would,  directly  or  indirectly,  interfere  with  the  slaves,  or 
with  them  about  the  slaves  ?  If  they  do,  I  wish  to  assure  you,  as  once  a 
friend,  and  still,  I  hope,  not  an  enemy,  that  there  is  no  cause  for  such  fears. 

"The  South  would  be  in  no  more  danger  in  this  respect  than  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Washington f"  I  ~  suppose,  however,  that  does  not  meet  the 
case.  You  think  slavery  is  right.,  and  ought  to  be  extended ;  while  we 
think  it  is  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  abofished.  That,'t  srrppoFe,  is  the  rub. 
It  certainly  is  the  only  substantial  difference  between  us. 

"  Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

Mr.  Stephens's  reply  was  as  follows : 

"  CRAWFORDVILLE,  GEORGIA,  30th  December,  1860. 

"DEAR  SIR, — Yours  of  the  22d  instant  was  received  two  days  ago.  I 
hold  it  and  appreciate  it  as  you  intended.  Personally,  I  am  not  your 
enemy, — far  from  it ;  and  however  widely  we  may  differ  politically,  yet 
I  trust  we  both  have  an  earnest  desire  to  preserve  and  maintain  the 
Union  of  the  States  if  it  can  be  done  upon  the  principles  and  furtherance 
of  the  objects  for  which  it  was  formed.  It  was  with  such  feelings  on  my 
part  that  I  suggested  to  you  in  my  former  note  the  heavy  responsibility 
now  resting  upon  you,  and  with  the  same  feelings  I  will  now  take  the 
liberty  of  saying,  in  all  frankness  and  earnestness,  that  this  great  object 
can  never  be  obtained  by  force.  This  is  my  settled  conviction.  Consider 
the  opinion,  weigh  it,  and  pass  upon  it  for  yourself.  An  error  on  this 
point  may  lead  to  the  most  disastrous  consequences.  I  will  also  add, 
that  in  my  judgment  the  people  of  the  South  do  not  entertain  any  fears 
that  a  Republican  Administration,  or  at  least  the  one  about  to  be  inaugu 
rated,  would  attempt  to  interfere  directly  and  immediately  with  slavery 
in  the  States.  Their  apprehension  and  disquietude  do  not  spring  from 
that  source.  They  do  not  arise'from  the  fact  of  the  known  anti-slavery 


372  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

opinions  of  the  President-elect.  Washington.  Jefferson,  and  other  Presi 
dents  are  generally  admitted  to  have  been  anti-slavery  in  sentiment.  But 
in  those  days  anti-slavery  did  not  enter  as  an  element  into  party  organi 
zations. 

"  Questions  of  other  kinds,  relating  to  the  foreign  and  domestic  policy, — 
commerce,  finance,  and  other  legitimate  objects  of  the  General  Govern 
ment. — were  the  basis  of  such  associations  in  their  day.  The  private 
opinions  of  individuals  upon  the  subject  of  African  slavery,  or  the  status 
of  the  negro  with  us,  were  not  looked  to  in  the  choice  of  Federal  officers 
any  more  than  their  views  upon  matters  of  religion,  or  any  other  subject 
over  which  the  Government  under  the  Constitution  had  no  control.  But 
now  this  subject,  which  is  confessedly  on  all  sides  outside  of  the  consti 
tutional  action  of  the  Government,  so  far  as  the  States  are  concerned,  is 
made  the  'central  idea'  in  the  platform  of  principles  announced  by  the 
triumphant  party.  The  leading  object  seems  to  be  simply,  and  wantonly, 
if , you  please,  to  put  the  institutions  of  nearly  half  the  States  under  the 
ban  of  public  opinion  and  national  condemnation.  This,  upon  general 
principles,  is  quite  enough  of  itself  to  arouse  a  spirit  not  only  of  general 
indignation,  but  of  revolt  on  the  part  of  the  proscribed.  Let  me  illustrate. 
It  is  generally  conceded,  by  the  Republicans  even,  that  Congress  cannot 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States.  It  is  equally  conceded  that  Congress 
cannot  establish  any  form  of  religious  worship.  Now  suppose  that  any  one 
of  the  present  Christian  churches  or  sects  prevailed  in  all  the  Southern 
States,  but  had  no  existence  in  any  one  of  the  Northern  States, — under  such 
circumstances,  suppose  the  people  of  the  Northern  States  should  organize 
a  political  party,  not  upon  a  foreign  or  domestic  policy,  but  with  one 
leading  idea  of  condemnation  of  the  doctrines  and  tenets  of  that  particular 
church,  and  with  the  avowed  object  of  preventing  its  extension  into  the 
common  Territories,  even  after  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the  land 
had  decided  they  had  no  such  constitutional  power.  And  suppose  that  a 
party  so  organized  should  carry  a  Presidential  election.  Is  it  not  apparent 
that  a  general  feeling  of  resistance  to  the  success,  aims^  and  objects  of 
such  a  party  would  necessarily  and  rightfully  ensue  ?  Would  it  not  be 
the  inevitable  consequence?  And  the  more  so,  if  possible,  from  the 
admitted  fact  that  it  was  a  matter  beyond  their  control,  and  one  that  they 
ought  not  in  the  spirit  of  comity  between  co-States  to  attempt  to  meddle 
with.  I  submit  these  thoughts  to  you  for  your  calm  reflection.  We  at 
the  South  do  think  African  slavery,  as  it  exists  with  us,  both  morally  and 
politically  right.  This  opinion  is  founded  upon  the  inferiority  of  the 
black  race.  You,  however,  and  perhaps  a  majority  of  the  North,  think  it 
wrong.  Admit  the  difference  of  opinion.  The  same  difference  of  opinion 
existed  to  a  more  general  extent  among  those  who  formed  the  Constitution, 
and  when  it  was  made  and  adopted.  The  changes  have  been  mainly  to 
our  side.  As  parties  were  not  formed  on  this  difference  of  opinion  then, 
why  should  they  be  now?  The  same  difference  would,  of  course,  exist 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  373 

in  the  supposed  case  of  religion.  When  parties  or  combinations  of  men, 
therefore,  so  form  themselves,  must  it  not  be  assumed  to  arise,  not  from 
reason  or  any  sense  of  justice,  but  from  fanaticism?  The  motive  can 
spring  from  no  other  source,  and  when  men  come  under  the  influence  of 
fanaticism  there  is  no  telling  where  their  impulses  or  passions  may  drive 
them.  This  is  what  creates  our  discontent  and  apprehension.  You  will 
also  allow  me  to  say  that  it  is  neither  unnatural  nor  unreasonable, 
especially  when  we  see  the  extent  to  which  this. reckless  spirit  has  already 
gone.  Such,  for  instance,  as  the  avowed  disregard  and  breach  of  the 
Constitution  in  the  passage  of  the  statutes  in  a  number  of  the  Northern 
States  against  the  renxlition  of  fugitives  from  service,  and  such  exhibitions 
of  madness  as  the  John  Brown  raid  into  Virginia,  which  has  received  so 
much  sympathy  from  many,  and  no  open  condemnation  from  any  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  present  dominant  party.  For  a  very  clear  statement 
of  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  most  moderate  men  of  the  South  upon 
them  I  refer  you  to  the  speech  of  Senator  Nicholson,  of  Tennessee,  which 
I  inclose  to  you.  Upon  a  review  of  the  whole,  who  can  say  that  the 
general  discontent  and  apprehension  prevailing  is  not  well  founded? 

"  In  addressing  you  thus,  I  would  have  you  understand  me  as  being  not 
a  personal  enemy,  but  as  one  who  would  have  you  do  what  you  can  to  save 
our  common  country.  A  word  '  fitly  spoken'  by  you  now  would  indeed 
be  like  'apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver.'  I  entreat  you  be  not  de 
ceived  as.  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  danger,  nor  as  to  the  remedy. 
Conciliation  and  harmony,  in  my  judgment,  can  never  be  established  by 
force.  Norcan  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  be  maintained  by  force, 
The  Union  was  formed  by  the  consent  of  independent  sovereign  States. 
Ultimate  sovereignty  still  resides  with  them  separately,  which  can  be  re 
sumed,  and  will  be,  if  their  safety,  tranquillity,  and  security,  in  their, 
judgment,  require  it.  Under  our  system,  as  I  view  it,  there  is  no  rightful ' 
power  in  the  General  Government  to  coerce  a  State,  in  case  any  one  of 
them  should  throw  herself  upon  her  reserved  rights  and  resume  the  full 
exercise  of  her  sovereign  powers.  Force  may  perpetuate  a  Union.  That 
depends  upon  the  contingencies  of  waii\  But  such  a  Union  would  not  be 
the  Union  of  the  Constitution.  It  would  be  nothing  short  of  a  consoli 
dated  despotism.  Excuse  me  for  giving  you  these  views.  Excuse  the 
strong  language  used.  Nothing  but  the  deep  interest  I  feel  in  prospect  of 
the  most  alarming  dangers  now  threatening  our  common  country  could 
induce  me  to  do  it.  Consider  well  what  I  write,  and  let  it  have  such 
weight  with  you  as  in  your  judgment,  under  all  the  responsibility  resting 
upon  you,  it  merits. 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Feeling  at  the  South— Secession  of  South  Carolina— Conventions  called  by 
the  other  States — Views  of  Mr.  Stephens — Real  Causes  of  Complaint — 
Secession  Rightful,  but  not  Expedient — Will  abide  by  his  State — Thoughts 
and  Memories — A  Storm  and  a  Speech — Break-up  of  the  Cabinet — Fort 
Pulaski  secured — Convention  at  Milledgeville — Speech — Ordinance  of 
Secession  passed — A  Forged  Speech — Sent  to  Montgomery — Formation 
of  the  Provisional  Government — Elected  Yice-President — Inaugurated 
— The  Constitution — Toombs  and  Cobb — Relations  with  Mr.  Davis — An 
ticipations. 

EVENTS  were  now  hurrying  rapidly  to  a  catastrophe.  Con 
sidering  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  first  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  who  had  offered  himself  as  the  representative  of  one 
section  only,  and  the  victorious  champion  of  a  party  which 
openly  professed  hostility  to  the  Southern  States  and  their  insti 
tutions,  as  the  declaration  of  a  settled  purpose  to  carry  that  hos 
tility  into  the  Administration  of  the  Federal  Government,  most 
of  the  leaders  of  public  opinion  at  the  South  were  convinced 
that  the  rights  of  the  Southern  States  were  no  longer  secure  in 
the  Union,  and  that  their  only  safety  lay  in  separation. 

South  Carolina  immediately  called  a  Sovereign  Convention  of 
the  people,  which,  on  December  20th,  1860,  unanimously  passed 
an  Ordinance  of  Secession,  repealing  the. ordinance  which  ratified 
the  Constitution  in  1788,  and  thus  restoring  South  Carolina  to 
the  position  of  a  separate  and  independent  sovereign  State.  The 
six  States  of  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas  followed  the  example  of  South  Carolina,  and  called 
Conventions.  That  of  Georgia  was  called  to  meet  at  Milledge 
ville  on  January  16th.  The  letters  to  Linton  will  show  the 
further  progress  of  events,  and  the  views  and  action  of  Mr. 
Stephens  at  this  critical  time. 

January  1st. — "  It  is  night.     I  have  just  received  your  letter.     I  think 
the  views  you  give  as  to  the  outline  of  what  you  intend  to  say  to-niorrow, 
374 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  375 

so  far  as  relates  to  the  course  our  own  State  ought  to  take,  and  the  policy 
she  ought  to  pursue  towards  South  Carolina,  are  entirely  correct.  This 
letter,  of  course,  you  will  not  get  until  after  your  speech  and  until  the 
election  is  over.  But  I  assure  you  I  feel  the  deepest  concern  in  the  prog 
ress  of  events  on  the  other  side  of  the  Savannah  River.  By  force  of  cir 
cumstances  they  will  necessarily  involve  the  interests  and  fate  of  Georgia. 
"  I  have  read  the  address  put  forth  by  the  Convention  at  Charleston  to 
the  Southern  States.  It  has  not  impressed  me  favorably.  In  it  South.. 
Carolina  clearly  shows  that  it  is  not  her  intention  to  be  satisfied  with  any 
redress  of  grievances.  Indeed,  she  hardly  deigns  to  specify  any.  The 
Slavery  question  is  almost  entirely  ignored.  Her  greatest  complaint  seems 
to  be  the  Tariff,  though  there  is  but  little  intelligent  or  intelligible  thought 
on  that  subject.  Perhaps  the  less  she  said  about  it  the  better.  For  the 
present  tariff  from  which  she  secedes  is  just  what  her  own  Senators  and 
members  in  Congress  made  it.  There  are  general  and  vague  charges 
about  consolidation,  despotism,  etc.,  and  the  South  having,  under  the  oper 
ation  of  the  General  Government,  been  reduced  to  a  minority  incapable  of 
protecting  itself,  etc.  This  complaint  I  do  not  think  well  founded.  It 
arises  more  from  a  spirit  of  peevishness  or  restless  fretfulness  than  from 
calm  and  deliberate  judgment.  The  truth  is,  the  South,  almost  in  mass, 
has  voted,  I  think,  for  every  measure  of  general  legislation  that  has  passed 
both  Houses  and  become  law  for  the  last  ten  years.  (^Indeed,  with  but  few 
exceptions,  the  South  has  controlled  the  Government  in  its  every  impor 
tant  action  from  the  beginning^/  The  protective  policy  was  once,  for  a 
time,  carried  against  the  South  ;  but  that  was  subsequently  completely 
changed.  Our  policy  ultimately  prevailed.  The  South  put  in  power — 
or  joined  a  united  country  in  putting  in  power  and  sustaining  the  Adminis 
tration  of  Washington  for  eight  years.  She  put  in  and  sustained  Jeffer 
son  eight  years,  Madison  eight  years,  Jackson  eight  years,  Van  Buren  four 
years,  Tyler  four  years,  Polk  four  years,  Pierce  four  years,  and  Buchanan 
four  years.  That  is,  they  have  aided  in  making  and  sustaining  the  Admin 
istration  for  sixty  years  out  of  the  seventy-two  of  the  Government's  ex 
istence.  "T)oes  this  look  like  we  were  or  are  in  an  abject  minority  at  the 
mercy  of  a  despotic  Northern  majority,  rapacious  to  rob  and  plunder  us? 
It  is  true  we  are  in  a  minority,  and  have  been  a  long  time.  It  is  true  also 
that  a  party  at  the  North  advocate  principles  which  would  lead  to  a  des 
potism,  and  they  would  rob  us  if  they  had  the  power, — I  have  no  doubt  of 
that.  But  by  the  prudent  and  wise  counsels  of  Southern  statesmen  this 
party  has  been  kept  in  the  minority  in  the  past,  and  by  the  same  prudent 
and  wise  statesmanship  on  our  part  I  can  but  hope  and  think  it  can  be  so  for 
many  long  years  to  come.  Sound  Constitutional  men  enough  at  the  North 
have  been  found  to  unite  with  the  South  to  keep  that  dangerous  and  mis 
chievous  faction  in  a  minority.  And  though  Lincoln  has  J>een  elected,  it 
ought  to  be  recollected  that  he  has  succeedecTByli  minority  vote,  and  even 
this  was  the  result  of  a  dissension  in  the  ranks  of  the  Conservatives  or 


376  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Constitutional  men  North  and  South  ;  a  most  unfortunate  and  lamentable 
event,  and  the  more  so  from  the  fact  that  it  was  designedly  effected  by  men 
who  wished  to  use  it  for  ulterior  ends  and  objects. 

"  Now  we  have  real  causes  of  complaint  against  the  North, — or  at  least 
against  certain  States  of  the  North, — causes  which,  if  not  redressed,  would 
justify  the  extreme  course,  the  ultima  ratio,  on  the  part  of  the  South. 

I  These,  however,  are  barely  glanced  at  in  the  South  Carolina  address. 
These  causes  are  the  '  Personal  Liberty  Acts,'  as  they  are  called,  in  several 
of  the  Northern  States.  Other  acts  of  their  Legislatures  which  openly 
and  avowedly  refuse  obedience  to,  or  compliance  with,  their  constitutional 
obligation  to  return  fugitive  slaves.  These  acts  are  in  flagrant  violation 
cf  constitutional  obligations ;  and  they  constitute  the  only  cause,  in  my 

(opinion,  which  can  justify  secession.  All  other  complaints  are  founded 
on  threatened  dangers  which  may  never  come,  and  which  I  feel  very  sure 
could  be  averted  if  the  South  would  pursue  a  judicious  and  wise  course. 
Whether  we  ought  to  secede  in  consequence  of  the  faithlessness  of  those 
Northern  States  alluded  to  is  simply  a  question  of  policy.  It  is  one  on 
which  able  men  and  true  may  differ.  One  thing  is  certain :  the  South 
would  be  justified  in  doing  it.  For  nothing  is  better  settled  by  all  law, 
recognized  by  savage  as  well  as  by  civilized  people,  than  that  a  compact 
broken  by  on-e  party  to  it  is  not  binding  on  the  other.  But  if  we  secede, 
I  should  like  to  see  it  put  on  the  right  ground  ;  and  while  I  think  the 
ground  would  fully  justify  the  act,  yet  I  do  not.  think  it  would  at  present 
be  wise  to  resort  to  that  remedy.  For  I  feel  confident'  that,  if  we  should 
adopt  the  right  course,  those  States  would  recede  and  repeal  their  obnox 
ious  statutes.  Hence  I  am  mortified  and  grieved  when  I  read  such  papers 
as  the  South  Carolina  manifesto.  It  is  not  on  the  right  line. 

"  But  I  am  grieved  at  almost  everything  I  see  and  hear  every  day.  The 
times  are  fearfully  distempered.  I  am  fully  persuaded  of  one  thing,  and 
that  is,  there  is  no  power  on  earth  that  can  bring  any  good  out  of  the 
present  state  of  things.  The  progress  of  events  cannot  be  arrested.  I 
tell  you  now,  as  you  cannot  get  this  until  after  your  election,  and  it  cannot, 
therefore,  influence  your  action  in  the  matter.  If  you  were  not  a  candi 
date  I  should  not  allow  my  name  to  be  used  to-morrow  for  the  Convention. 
I  have  no  desire  to  be  in  that  body.  I  have  a  repugnance  to  the  idea.  I 
believe  the  State  will  go  for  secession, — have  believed  it  ever  since  I  left 
Milledgeville.  I  have  no  wish  to  be  in  a  body  of  men  that  will  give  that 
vote.  My  judgment  does  not  approve  it.  But  when  the  State  acts  I  shall 
abide  by  her  decision^  with  the  fidelity  of  one  who  imagines  he  feels  the 
dictates  of  patriotism  as  sensibly  and  as  strongly  as  any  one  who  ever 
breathed  the  breath  of  life. 

"  I  must  confess  in  the  darkness  and  gloom  that  hang  upon  the  future 
I  see  no  prospect  and  but  little  hope  for  good  government  ever  again  in 
this  country,  North  or  South.  The  mischievous  faction  at  the  North  will 
bear  sway  there.  /^Constitutional  liberty  they  never  understood,  or  did  not 


LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  377 


like,  if  they  did.}  How  it  will  be  with  us  at  the  South  time  must  disclose  : 
but  when  our  public  men  act  so  unwisely  under  present  circumstances, 
I  cannot  hope  for  much  under  their  rule  in  the  days  of  real  peril.  We  are 
on  the  high  road  to  ruin  I  verily  believe.  How  far  a  man  can,  consistently 
with  a  proper  sense  of  duty  to  his  country,  abandon  it  to  its  fate  when  he 
sees  its  fate  inevitable,  I  will  not  undertake  to  say.  But  this  country,  as 
it  was  and  has  been,  is  entirely  demoralized  if  not  ruined.  It  is  bevond 
the  power  of  salvation.  If  I  am  elected,  and  you  are,  I  shall  go  to  the 
Convention  simply  to  share  your  fate,  and  to  link  my  destiny  with  yours 
and  that  of  our  State,  just  as  I  would,  if  I  could,  in  the  blow-up  of  a 
steamer  at  sea,  get  on  the  same  fragment  of  the  wreck  with  you  and  other 
dear  ones,  that  wre  might  in  the  last  hour  have  the  consolation  of  going 
down  together. 

"  I  am  communing  with  you  now  as  I  do  with  no  one  else  ;  and  I  would 
not  have  you  mention  my  feeling  to  any  one.  I  would  give  no  one 
unnecessary  pain  in  the  anticipation  of  impending  evils.  Let  all  enjoy 
themselves  who  can  ;  all  indulge  better  hopes  who  can.  Despair  is  a  ter 
rible  feeling  for  one  who  has  not  the  nerve  to  bear  it.  I  feel  as  if  I  can 
bear  anything.  After  all,  perhaps  what  I  apprehend  will  not  take  place. 
Don't,  therefore,  let  what  I  write  affect  your  cheerfulness.  It  may  be  a 
misfortune  to  have  our  lives  cast  upon  such  evil  times.  (JkTt  still  we  have 
duties  to  perform,  and  these  should  be  performed,  to  the  best  of  our  abili 
ties,  with  fidelity  under  all  circumstances,  whether  of  good  or  eviLAAll  that 
a  man  can  do  is  to  discharge  his  own  duty,  whatever  that  mTTy'be.  This 
I  shall  do,  to  the  best  of  my  understanding  of  it,  in  whatever  fortunes 
betide  me  or  the  country.  I  have  ceased  to  put  much  confidence  in  our 
public  men.  Most  of  them  are  destitute  of  principle.  I  will  not  particu 
larize.  It  is  painful  to  me  to  think  of  it. 

"  To-day,  after  reading  Judge  Ezzard's  late  letter,  coming  out  for  imme 
diate  secession,  on  the  back  of  Judge  Nisbefs  speech  in  Macon,  to  drown 
my  thoughts  on  these  disagreeable  subjects,  I  took  a  long  walk.  The 
evening  was  cloudy,  cold,  and  bleak.  But  I  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  get 
away  from  all  company , — human  company  and  human  society  at  least.  I 
took  my  poor  old  blind  dog,  string  in  hand,  and  sought  solitude.  I  went 
through  the  old  fields  over  on  the  Berry  Little  place,  through  the  pines, 
sighing  in  the  chill  wind.  I  went  until  I  came  to  the  Bristow  place, — the 
place  your  grandmother  settled.  Old  memories  were  here  awakened.  I 
approached  the  old  houses.  What  a  wreck  was  before  me  !  The  inclosures 
and  fences  were  all  down.  I  went  up  to  the  spot  where  I  first  met  you 
on  my  first  visit  to  your  grandmother  after  you  went  there  to  live.  You 
were  then  a  very  little  boy.  You  had  run  out  at  the  gate  to  meet  me.  Do 
you  remember  the  time  and  the  spot?  There  this  evening  I  stood  and 
gazed  on  all  around  me.  Emotions,  deep  and  strong,  swelled  my  breast, 
and  for  a  time  public  affairs  were  all  lost  in  contemplations  of  another 
sort. 


378  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

"Rio,  though  sightless  and  almost  deaf,  seemed  to  be  impressed,  through 
some  strange  instinct,  with  the  agitations  of  my  mind.  lie  whined  in 
sympathy,  and  raised  a  mournful  howl.  I  was  looking  at  the  old  house, 
in  all  its  present  dilapidation  and  ruin, — the  doors  all  broken  down,  and 
rooms  now  become  a  shelter  for  stray  goats  and  sheep  in  foul  weather.  A 
few  old  peach-trees  stood,  the  survivors  of  the  orchard.  A  lonely  cedar, 
on  the  edge  where  the  yard  used  to  be,  remains  to  the  memory  of  some 
kind  hand  that  planted  it.  These  scenes  I  had  in  full  view  when  Rio  gave 
utterance  to  his  sympathetic  melancholy  howl.  Aroused  by  this,  I  went 
on  to  the  spring,  leading  him  by  the  string  down  the  rough  hill-side  path. 
That  bold  and  pure  fountain  of  cool  waters  in  other  days  I  found  all 
covered  with  mud  and  sand.  What  a  change  in  all  things  about  this  once 
human  habitation  from  what  I  saw  on  my  first  visit  to  it !  How  changed 
those  who  imparted  so  much  life  and  cheerfulness  to  this  now  dreary  and 
desolate  place  !  Many  of  them  gone  to  the  grave, — all  of  them,  I  believe, 
but  yourself, — all  gone  from  the  land  of  the  living.  .  .  . 

"With  these  reflections  I  wended  my  way  back  through  the  woods,  the 
pines,  and  old  fields,  with  a  heart  as  bare,  as  desolate,  and  as  shattered  as 
the  waste  places  I  had  been  gazing  and  meditating  upon.  But  enough  of 
these  gloomy  midnight  thoughts.  Good-by.  My  best  wishes  attend  you 
now  and  forever.  It  may  be  that  I  am  too  desponding  as  to  the  fate  of 
our  country.  I  hope  and  trust  I  am  ;  but  I  give  you  my  feelings  as  they 
are  and  have  been  for  some  time." 

January  3d. — This  letter  was  written  the  day  after  the  elec 
tion  of  delegates  to  the  Convention.  There  had  been  a  violent 
storm  the  day  before,  and  Mr.  Stephens  remarked  to  a  friend 
that  this  storm  had  cost  the  Conservative  party  at  least  ten 
thousand  votes,  and  that  the  State  was  committed  to  secession. 

"Yesterday  was  an  awful  day.  The  elements  of  nature  seemed  to  be 
in  accordance  with  the  distemper  of  the  times.  I  suffered  severely  with 
a  headache,  and  should  not  have  gone  out,  but  was  sent  for  to  go  to  the 
court-house  to  make  a  speech.  I  went  up, — found  about  one  hundred 
persons  standing  about,  some  by  the  stove,  some  on  the  stair-steps,  some 
in  the  jury-boxes,  all  dripping  with  wet,  and  exhibiting  as  hopeless  a 
spectacle  of  men  in  dark  and  doubt,  oppressed  with  some  appalling  calamity 
about  to  come  upon  them,  as  I  ever  beheld. 

UI  gave  them  a  talk  of  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  The  speech  was  well 
received  by  a  large  majority,  though  I  gave  them  but  little  encouragement. 
I  gave  them  many  illustrations,  but  above  all  guarded  them  against  panic. 
There  was  nothing  to  cause  real  alarm.  If  the  worst  came4,  we  were 
abundantly  able  to  defend  and  protect  ourselves.  The  greatest  danger 
was  from  fear  or  panic.  I  felt  none  of  it.  The  sensation  telegraphs  from 
Washington  had  no  effect  on  me.  As  to  what  our  Convention  would  do. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  379 

or  ought  to  do  I  could  not  tell  them, — that  depended  upon  circumstances 
to  be  disclosed.  All  that  I  could  say  as  to  myself  was  that  I  should  keep 
two  things  constantly  in  view.  The  first  was  the  right,  honor,  safety,  and 
security  of  Georgia, — that  I  should  maintain  at  all  hazards  and  to  the  last 
extremity.  The" second  was  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  if  it  could  be 
done  consistently  with  the  other  object.  If  I  became  satisfied  that  this 
could  not  be  done,  then  I  was  for  taking  such  measures  as  would  by 
co-operation  with  other  States  lead  to  another  Union  on  the  basis  of  the 
present  Federal  Constitution,  taking  within  it  all  who  would  comply  with 
its  existing  obligations.  I  thought  the  Constitution  as  it  is  good  enough. 
I  saw  no  necessity  for  any  new  guaranty.  South  Carolina  seems  to  think 
so  too.  She  wants  the  Southern  States  to  unite  with  her  upon  that ;  and 
if  that  be  the  basis,  we  have  the  admission  of  the  present  States, — Con 
gress  could  not  ask  any  but  the  adoption  of  the  fundamental  law  of 
union,  etc. 

41  When  I  got  through,  J II cried  out  '  Three  cheers  for  South 

Carolina !'  This  he  repeated  three  or  four  times,  but  got  no  response.  .  .  . 

"  Yesterday  was  the  worst  day  for  an  election  I  ever  saw  in  Georgia. 
It  has  told  greatly  against  the  Conservative  cause,  I  have  no  doubt.  It 
really  appears  as  if  Providence  was  on  the  other  side.  From  the  begin 
ning  of  this  movement  last  spring  every  incident  of  what  is  termed  luck 
seems  to  be  against  the  Conservatives.  I  call  it  Providence.  My  reading 
of  it  is  that  a  severe  chastisement  for  sins  of  ingratitude  and  other  crimes 
is  about  to  be  inflicted  upon  us, — '  when  the  wicked  rule  the  nation  mourns.' 
We  are  about  to  suffer  as  we  have  never  suffered  before.  This  is  my 
apprehension. 

"  I  received  the  following  despatch  from  Mr. at  ten  o'clock  to-night: 

'"  WASHINGTON,  Jan.  1,  '61,  3  o'clock  P.M. 

"  '  Cabinet  broken  up.  Floyd  and  Thompson  out.  Coercion  policy  adopted  by 
Administration.  Holt,  our  bitter  foe,  Secretary  of  War.  Fort  Pulaski  in  danger. 
Abolitionists  defiant.' " 

Mr.  Stephens  was  strongly  disinclined  to  go  to  the  Convention, 
but  finally  concluded  to  do  so.  On  the  10th  lie  wrote  to  his 
brother  as  follows : 

"  I  look  upon  it  as  a  fixed  fact  that  the  South  will  secede,  and  have  been 
of  that  opinion  ever  since  I  was  at  Milledgeville.  I  saw  that  we  were 
borne  along  upon  currents  that  there  was  no  hope  of  resisting.  But  I  am 
just  as  firm  in  my  judgment  that  the  policy  is  wrong  as  I  was  then. 
What  course  I  shall  take  will  depend  upon  circumstances  and  what  line 
is  presented  by  the  majority.  I  should  like  for  unanimity  to  prevail ;  but 
it  never  can  be  on  such  a  manifesto  as  South  Carolina  put  forth,  or  on 
such  a  resolution  as  passed  the  Alabama  Convention/'  I  shall  maintain 
my  principles  to  the  last,  let  what  may  come.n^) 


380  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

The  Convention  met  at  Milledgeville  on  the  16th  of  January, 
and  Mr.  Stephens  and  his  brother  were  present.  The  most  im 
portant  question  brought  before  that  body — except  the  Ordi 
nance  of  Secession  itself — was  the  substitute  for  that  Ordinance 
drawn  up  by  the  Hon.  Herschel  V.  Johnson  (former  candidate 
for  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the  United  States  on  the  Douglas 
ticket),  after  consultation  with  Alexander  and  Linton  Stephens. 
After  recapitulating  the  grievances  of  which  the  South  com 
plained,  this  paper  proposed  that  the  Convention  should  invite 
the  ten  Southern  Slates  still  in  the  Union,  and  "  the  Independ 
ent  Republics  of  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Mis 
sissippi,"  to  send  respectively  delegates  and  commissioners  to 
meet  the  delegates  from  the  State  of  Georgia  in  a  Congress  at 
Atlanta  on  the  16th  of  February,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
^existing  state  of  affairs,  and  determine  on  a  course  of  action. 
/While  refraining  from  making  any  formal  demand  on  the 
i^orthern  States  for  the  repeal  of  the  "  Personal  Liberty  Acts," 
the  State  of  Georgia  announced  her  unalterable  determination 
to  sever  her  connection  with  those  States  unless  those  acts  were 
repealed7">nd  she  pledged  herself,  in  the  case  of  the  Federal 
Government  undertaking  to  coerce  any  of  the  seceded  States  in 
the  mean  time,  to  make  common  cause  with  such  State  or  States. 
Finally,  if  all  efforts  failed  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  State  of 
Georgia  in  the  Union,  it  was  announced  that  she  would  resume 
her  separate  independence,  and  unite  with  the  seceded  States. 

When  this  paper  was  offered,  Mr.  Stephens  supported  it  in 
the  following  words : 

"  Mr.  President, — It  is  well  known  that  my  judgment  is  against  seces 
sion  for  existing  causes.  I  have  not  lost  hope  of  securing  our  rights  in 
the  Union  and  under  the  Constitution.  My  judgment  on  this  point  is  as 
unshaken  as  it  was  when  the  Convention  was  called.  I  do  not  nowr  intend 
to  go  into  any  arguments  on  the  subject.  No  good  could  be  effected  by  it. 
That  wras  fully  considered  in  the  late  canvass ;  and  I  doubt  not  every  dele 
gate's  mind  is  made  up  on  the  question.  I  have  thought,  and  still  think, 
that  wre  should  not  take  this  extreme  step  before  some  tpositive  aggression 
upon  our  rights  by  the  General  Government,  which  may  never  occur ;  or 
until  we  fail,  after  effort  made,  to  get  a  faithful  performance  of  their  con 
stitutional  obligations,  on  the  part  of  those  confederate  States  wrhich  now 
stand  so  derelict  in  their  plighted  faith.  I  have  been,  and  am  still  opposed 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  33! 

to  secession  as  a  remedy  against  anticipated  aggressions  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  Executive  or  Congress.*'^  have  held,  and  do  now  hold,  that  the 
point  of  resistance  should  be  the  point  of  aggression?^ 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  President,  for  trespassing  on'^our  time  but  for  a  mo 
ment  longer.  I  have  ever  believed,  and  do  now  believe,  that  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  all  the  States  to  be  and  remain  united  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  with  a  faithful  performance  by  each  of  all  its  con 
stitutional  obligations.  If  the  Union  could  be  maintained  on  this  basis, 
and  on  these  principles,  I  think  it  would  be  the  best  for  the  security,  the 
liberty,  happiness,  and  common  prosperity  of  all.  I  do  further  feel  con 
fident,  if  Georgia  would  now  stand  firm,  and  unite  with  the  Border  States, 
as  they  are  called,  in  an  effort  to  obtain  a  redress  of  those  grievances  on 
the  part  of  some  of  their  Northern  confederates,  whereof  they  have  such 
just  cause  to  complain,  that  complete  success  would  attend  their  efforts, — 
our  just  and  reasonable  demands  would  be  granted.  In  this  opinion  I  may 
be  mistaken,  but  I  feel  almost  as  confident  of  it  as  I  do  of  my  existence. 
Hence,  if  upon  this  test  vote,  which  I  trust  will  be  made  upon  the  motion 
now  pending,  to  refer  both  the  propositions  before  us  to  a  committee  of 
twenty-one,  a  majority  shall  vote  to  commit  them,  then  I  shall  do  all  I  can 
to  perfect  the  plan  of  united  Southern  co-operation,  submitted  by  the  hon 
orable  delegate  from  Jefferson,  and  put  it  in  such  a  shape  as  will,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Convention,  best  secure  its  object.  That  object,  as  I  under 
stand  it,  does  not  look  to  secession  by  the  16th  of  February,  or  the  4th  of 
March,  if  redress  should  not  be  obtained  by  that  time.  In  my  opinion  it 
cannot  be  obtained  by  the  16th  of  February,  or  even  the  4th  of  March. 
But  by  the  16th  of  February  we  can  see  whether  the  Border  States  and 
other  non-seceding  Southern  States  will  respond  to  our  call  for  the  pro 
posed  Congress  or  Convention  #t  Atlanta.  If  they  do,  as  I  trust  they  may, 
then/fnat  body,  so  composed  of  representatives,  delegates,  or  commission 
ers,  as  contemplated,  from  the  whole  of  the  slaveholding  States,  could, 
and  would,  I  doubt  not,  adopt  either  our  plan  or  some  other,  which  would 
fully  secure  our  rights  with  ample  guaranties,  and  thus  preserve  and 
maintain  the  ultimate  peace  and  union  of  the  States)  Whatever  plan  of 
peaceful  adjustment  might  be  adopted  by  such  a  Congress  I  feel  confident 
would  be  acceded  to  by  the  people  of  every  Northern  State.  This  would 
not  be  done  in  a  month,  or  two  months,  or  perhaps  short  of  twelve  months, 
or  even  longer.  Tung  frnnld  npn.flpM.ri1y  htpft  fn  V>P  allowed  for  a  consid 
eration  of  the  questions  submitted  to  tlio  |.«-opl«  of  the  Northern  States, 
and  for  their  deliberate  action  on  them  in  view  of  all  their  interests,  pres 
ent  and  future.  How  long  a  time  should  be  allowed  would  be  a  proper 
question  for  that  Congress  to  determine.  Meanwhile,  this  Convention 
could  continue  its  existence  by  adjourning  over  to  hear  and  decide  upon 
the  ultimate  result  of  this  patriotic  effort. 

"My  judgment,  as  is  well  known,  is  against  the  policy  of  immediate 
secession  for  any  existing  causes.  It  cannot  receive  the  sanction  of  my 


382  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

vote  ;  but  if  the  judgment  of  a  majority  of  this  Convention,  embodying  as 
it  does  the  Sovereignty  of  Georgia,  be  against  mine ;  if  a  majority  of  the 
delegates  in  "this  Convention  shall,  by  their  votes,  dissolve  the  compact  of 
union  which  has  connected  her  so  long  with  her  confederate  States,  and 
to  which  I  have  been  so  ardently  attached,  and  have  made  such  efforts  to 
continue  and  to  perpetuate  upon  the  principles  on  which  it  was  founded, 
I  shall  bow  in  submission  to  that  decision." 

In  reference  to  his  views  at  this  time,  Mr.  Stephens  elsewhere 
remarks : 

"  I  did  not  attach  any  serious  importance  to  the  fact  that  the  equality 
which  had  so  long  been  maintained  in  the  number  of  the  non-slaveholding 
and  slaveholding  States  no  longer  existed.  It  is  true  the  loss  of  that 
equilibrium,  or  balance  of  power,  as  it  was  called,  caused  many  at  the 
time  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  slaveholding  States  could  not,  with 
safety  to  themselves,  remain  longer  in  the  Union  without  some  additional 
guaranty.  This  was  the  belief  of  Mr.  Callioun.vJSut  the  only  true  equi 
librium,  or  balance  of  power,  in  my  opinion,  under  our  system,  which  it 
was  essential  to  maintain,  was  tl\e  recognized  Sovereignty  of  the  several 
States.  This  was  the  all-powerful  check  against  aggression  upon  the  rights 
of  any  State.  This  was  the  complete  regulator  of  the  entire  system^  This 
was  my  view  on  the  admission  of  California,  as  it  was  on  the  admission  of 
•Oregon.  The  result  showed  that,  so  far  from  the  admission  of  those  States 
working  injuriously  to  the  interests  of  the  slaveholding  States,  by  the  loss 
of  the  balance  of  power,  so  called,  California  and  Oregon  became  their 
allies  on  all  these  great  constitutional  questions.  California  and  Oregon 
were  as  strongly  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the  centralists  as  the  Southern 
States  were.'' 

The  substitute  was  rejected  by  the  Convention,  and  the  Ordi 
nance  for  immediate  secession  passed  by  a  vote  of  208  to  89,  Mr. 
Stephens  voting  "  no."  It  was  then  moved  that  all  the  dele 
gates  should  sign  the  Ordinance;  but  before  the  motion  was  put 
to  the  vote,  Linton  Stephens,  who  also  had  voted  against  the 
Ordinance,  drew  up  and  presented  to  the  Convention  the  follow 
ing  preamble  and  resolution : 

11  Whereas,  The  lack  of  unanimity  in  the  action  of  this  Convention  in  the 
passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  indicates  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  members  of  this  Convention,  not  so  much  as  to  the  rights  which 
Georgia  claims,  or  the  wrongs  of  which  she  complains,  as  to  the  remedy 
and  its  application  before  a  resort  to  other  means  of  redress : 

"  And  whereas,  It  is  desirable  to  give  expression  to  that  intention  which 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  383 

really  exists  among  all  the  members  of  this  Convention,  to  sustain  the 
State  in  the  course  of  action  which  she  has  pronounced  to  be  proper  for 
the  occasion  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  all  members  of  this  Convention,  including  those  who 
voted  against  the  said  Ordinance  as  well  as  those  who  voted  for  it,  will 
sign  the  same  as  a  pledge  of  the  unanimous  determination  of  this  Conven 
tion  to  sustain  and  defend  the  State,  in  this  her  chosen  remedy,  with  all 
its  responsibilities  and  consequences,  without  regard  to  individual  approval 
or  disapproval  of  its  adoption." 

This  preamble  and  resolution  were  carried  at  once  without  a 
count,  and  all  the  delegates  present,  including  Mr.  Stephens, 
signed  the  Ordinance,  except  six,  who  entered  on  the  journal  a 
declaration  of  their  purpose  to  yield  to  the  will  of  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Stephens  was  shortly  afterwards  elected  to  the  Provisional 
Government  at  Montgomery,  much  against  his  wish,  and  he 
hesitated  for  some  days  whether  or  not  to  accept.  He  finally 
concluded  to  go,  provided  the  Convention  would  pass  two  reso 
lutions  which  he  offered,  touching  the  mode  of  organization  of 
the  Provisional  Government,  and  the  subsequent  formation  of  a 
Permanent  Government  "upon  the  principles  and  basis  .of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  These  resolutions  having 
passed  with  great  unanimity,  Mr.  Stephens  felt  it  to  be  "  his 
duty  to  do  all  that  he  could  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the 
principles  of  our  Federal  system/7  and  consequently  accepted 
the  position. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  mention  here  that  the  speech  given  above 
was  the  only  one  made  by  Mr.  Stephens  in  the  Convention  on  the 
subject  of  secession.  A  speech  purporting  to  have  been  made  by 
him,  and  extensively  circulated  in  the  North  in  1864,  was  a  mere 
forgery,  contrived  in  that  section  for  political  purposes. 

We  now  tatfe  up  the  correspondence  with  R.  M.  J.  : 

February  2d. — "  Time  rolls  on  rapidly,  and  each  day  brings  with  it  a 
heavy  load  on  me  of  unlooked-for  duties.  Only  a  month  has  passed,  I  be 
lieve,  since  I  wrote  to  you,  and  now  I  have  but  a  moment  to  devote  to  your 
service.  In  this  moment  I  can  say  nothing  that  I  could  wish  to  say  and 
would  say,  if  I  had  time,  of  those  great  events  that  have  happened  since 
I  saw  you.  I  am  going,  as  you  see,  to  Montgomery.  I  am  to  start  to- 


384  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 


morrow  night,  and  am  now  very  busy  getting  ready\It  was  with  great 
reluctance,  I  assure  you,  I  undertook  this  du£y>v  It  wasonTy  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  upon  the  urgent  solicitations  of  a  great  many  members  of  the 
Convention,  representing  the  wishes,  I  was  satisfied,  of  nine-tenths  of  the 
bod}7,  that  I  should  go.  But  one  man  voted  against  it, — that  man  was 

my  old  friend .  I  expected  nothing  else  from  him,  and  he  perhaps  was 

right  in  his  vote.  My  own  feelings  were  as  averse  to  my  going  as  his 
could  possibly  have  been.  I  yielded  to  others  just  as  I  did  last  year  when 
I  consented  to  the  use  of  my  name  as  an  Elector  at  large  on  the  Douglas 
ticket  in  our  State.  I  did  not  think  any  good  would  come  from  that  con 
sent,  and  I  don't  now  think  any  good  will  come  of_yielding  in  this  instance 
to  like  earnest  entreaties  on  the  part  of  others. C I  have,  however,  yielded, 
and  I  will  perform  the  duty  to  the  best  of  my  ability^jtly  apprehension 
and  distrust  of  the  future  arises  from  the  want  of  high  integrity,  loyalty 
to  principle,  and  pure,  disinterested  patriotism  in  the  men  at  the  head  of 
the  movement,  who  necessarily  control  it,  at  least  for  the  present)  ''This 
is  a  melancholy  truth.  It  is  with  pain  I  write  it.  I  would  not  write  it  to 
any  one  where  the  utterance  of  it  could  be  of  any  public  injury  ;  but  to 
you  I  may  and  will  express  myself  as  I  feel.  And  to  show  that  what  I 
have  said  does  no  injustice  to  any,  I  can  bring  a  great  array  of  evidence. 
.  .  .  My  word  for  it,  this  country  is  in  a  great  deal  worse  condition  than 
the.  people  are  at  all  aware  of.  What  is  to  become  of  us  I  do  not  know. 
I  shall  go  to  Montgomery, — do  all  I  can  to  prevent  mischief,  if  possible. — 
and  if  the  new  Government  shall  be  successfully  launched,  as  I  sincerely 
hope  it  may  be,  then  I  shall  again  go  into  that  retirement  so  congenial  to 
my  feelings,  t  If  my  efforts  in  this  last  movement  shall  fail. — if  I  see  no 
prospect  of  domg  good  at  Montgomery.  I  shall  retire  and  give  up  all  as 
lost)  Don't  think  me  desponding, — I  write  to  you  exactly  as  I  feel  :  and 
what  I  write  is  for  yourself  alone.  Whatever  feelings  of  despondency  I 
have  in  looking  to  the  future  come  from  my  knowledge  of  the  men  in 
whose  hands  we  are  likely  to  fall.  They  are  selfish',  ambitious,  and  un 
scrupulous.  Republics  cannot  be  built  up  or  successfully  administered 
without  the  strictest  and  sternest  virtue  and  purest  patriotism  on  the  part 
of  those  at  the  head  of  affairs." 

A  brief  note  written  later  on  the  same  day,  seems  to  have  been 
intended  as  a  partial  corrective  to  the  tone  of  the  former,  that 
the  floods  of  Cocytns  might  not  roll  altogether  over  the  soul  of 
his  correspondent. 

"I  was  rather  dispirited  when  I  wrote  you  my  long  letter  to-day.  You 
must  make  some  allowance  for  that.  I  am  still  in  the  same  depressed  state 
of  mind,  and  have  been  ever  since  the  burst-up  at  Charleston.  I  shall, 
however,  continue  to  hope  for  the  best  and  strive  for  the  best,  as  I  have  all 
along  been  doing,  while  I  shall  still  be  prepared  in  mind  for  the  worst." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  335 

Montgomery,  February  5tk. — "  Nothing  was  done  after  organization  ex 
cept  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  to  prepare  and  report  rules.  This 
was  on  my  motion,  and  of  course  I  was  put  on  the  Committee,  though  I 
requested  Cobb  [Howell  Cobb,  President  of  the  Provisional  Government] 
not  to  do  it.  I  did  not  wish  to  be  on  it.  I  made  the  motion  merely  be 
cause  the  crowd  generally  seemed  green  and  not  to  know  how  to  proceed. 
South  Carolina  and  Mississippi  had  instructed  their  delegations  to  vote  by 
States  ;  and  Louisiana  members  said  the  same  of  their  State.  I  saw,  there 
fore,  that  there  was  no  doing  anything  until  some  rules  of  proceeding  were 
adopted.  The  Committee  appointed  was  Stephens,  Keitt,  Curry,  Harrison, 
of  Mississippi,  and  Perkins,  of  Louisiana.  All  were  in  my  parlor  last 
night  except  Curry,  who  sent  word  that  he  was  sick.  Before  they  came 
I  had  drawn  up  a  set  of  rules  which  I  submitted  to  them,  and,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  they  were  adopted  by  the  Committee.  I  culled  them 
partly  from  the  rules  of  the  United  States  Senate  and  House  of  Represent 
atives,  and  there  were  some  entirely  new  ones  that  I  introduced.  After 
the  report  was  agreed  upon,  I  went  to  the  printing-office,  after  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  and  got  them  to  promise  to  strike  off  fifty  copies  by  twelve  o'clock 
to-day  for  me,  at  my  expense." 

February  9th. — "  We  agreed  last  night  at  about  midnight  to  a  Constitu 
tion  for  a  Provisional  Government  for  the  Confederate  States.  That  is 
the  name.  It  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  with  such  changes 
as  are  necessary  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  Two^  new  features 
have  been  introduced  by  me:  one,  leaving  out  the  cTause  that  excluded 
Cabinet  Ministers  from  being  members  of  Congress ;  the  other,  that  Con 
gress  should  not  have  power  to  appropriate  any  money  unless  it  be  asked 
for  by  the  Executive  or  some  one  of  the  heads  of  Departments.  Wright 
and  myself  Avere  on  the  Committee  from  Georgia  to  report  the  Constitu 
tion.  Each  State  had  two  members  on  it.  Memminger,  of  South  Carolina, 
who  moved  the  raising  of  the  Committee,  was  Chairman. 

"We  have  just  elected  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  Confed 
eracy.  Mr.  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  was  unanimously  chosen  President,  and 
I  was  unanimously  chosen  Vice-President.  I  knew  that  such  was  the  un 
derstanding  as  to  what  would  be  the  result,  and  did  not  go  to  the  hall 
when  the  election  took  place.  The  vote  was  cast  by  States.  I  have  a 
good  deal  to  say  about  this  and  other  matters  transacted  here  when  I  see 
you.'* 

February  10th.—"  To-morrow  I  am  to  be  inaugurated,  or  signify  my 
acceptance  and  take  the  oath  of  office  publicly  in  the  Congress  hall  at 
twelve  o'clock.  ...  I  almost  shrink  from  the  responsibilities  I  shall  as 
sume.  To  making  any  speech  on  the  occasion  I  have  a  strong  aversion; 
but  such  is  the  request  in  the  letter  asking  my  acceptance." 

February  lltli. — "  This,  as  you  know,  is  my  birthday  ;  and  this  day  at 
the  hour  of  one  I  was  inaugurated  (if  such  be  the  proper  term  for  the  pro 
ceeding)  Vice-President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  co- 

,  25 


386  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

incidence,  altogether  accidental,  made  a  marked  impression  upon  my  mind. 
The  remarks  I  made  you  will  of  course  see.  They  were  delivered  as  if 
extemporaneous,  though  they  had  been  written  and  committed  to  memory. 
As  you  will  see,  they  were  very  short.  I  wrote  them  down  this  morning 
before  going  to  the  Capitol.  There  was,  I  suspect,  great  disappointment 
at  their  brevity.  I  had  been  urged  to  make  a  speech,  and  a  very  large 
crowd  was  assembled  to  hear  it.  I  was  satisfied  that  such  a  course  would 
be  injudicious,  indelicate,  and  improper.  Since  it  is  all  over,  a  great  many 
have  told  me  that  I  did  exactly  right.  I  was  governed  entirely  by  my  own 
judgment  and  sense  of  propriety  in  the  matter." 

February  17th. —  (To  Linton.)  "The  President-elect  reached  here  last 
night  at  ten  o'clock.  Mr.  T combs,  Mr.  Crawford,  and  myself  called  at  his 
hotel  at  ten  this  morning,  but  he  was  not  up.  ...  I  get  about  thirty  letters 
daily,  but  cannot  answer  above  fifteen  of  them.  As  to  the  point  in  the  new 
Constitution  you  mention,  I  will  state  that  the  provision  I  wished  is  in  it; 
that  is,  the  exclusion  in  the  old  Constitution  is  omitted.  All  I  wanted  is 
thatjthe  President  should  not  be  forbidden  to  go  into  the  Houses  of  Congress 
in  the  selection.'^  his  Cabinet.  I  think  it  would  be  better  still  to  require 
him  to  do  it,  but  that  is  not  so  important.  Mr.  Toombs  backed  the  policy 
with  great  force.  I  had  the  clause  of  prohibition  left  out  of  the  draft  sub 
mitted  by  the  Committee.  I  was  on  the  Committee.  Upon  motion  to  in 
sert  it,  in  the  House,  Mr.  Toombs  sustained  my  position.  This,  however, 
is  one  of  the  secrets  of  our  body,  which  you  will  so  regard:  and  I  would 
not  communicate  it  to  you  but  for  the  fact  that  we  are  permitted  to  dis 
close  any  of  these  secrets  to  our  State  Conventions  in  secret  session  ;  so,  as 
you  are  a  member  of  that  Convention,  I  can  state  it  to  you  in  confidence. 
Mr.  Toombs  tells  me,  however,  that  in  the  Committee  raised  to  present 
a  constitution  of  permanent  government  he  has  been  out-voted  on  this 
point ;  that  the  old  clause  is  retained,  and  that  we  shall  have  a  fight  over 
it  in  the  Congress  when  the  report  is  made.  He  is  very  friendly  with  me 
now,  and  confers  freely  with  me  on  all  matters  either  before  his  Committee 
on  the  Constitution  or  before  Congress,  lie  now  seems  to  be  as  cordial  as 
he  ever  did  in  his  life.*  He  never  lets  Cobb  pass  without  giving  him  a 
lick.  The  other  night,  in  high  glee,  he  told  him  in  company  that  he  had 
done  more  for  secession  than  any  other  man.  He  had  deprived  the  enemy 
of  the  sinews  of  war,  and  left  them  without  a  dollar  in 'the  treasury.  He 
did  not  even  leave  old  '  Buck'  two  quarters  to  put  on  his  eyes  when  he 
died.  This  is  a  sore  point  with  Cobb ;  but  Toombs  seemed  disposed  to  rub 
in  the  salt.  Even  when  the  skin  was  off,  he  applied  it  to  the  raw." 

February  21st. — u  I  am  bored  to  death  with  company  and  calls.  .  .  . 
Sometimes  it  does  seem  to  me  that  it  will  kill  me.  I  cannot  get  ten 

*  After  the  wide  difference  between  them  on  the  question  of  secession, 
there  had  been  a  temporary  suspension  of  that  warm  cordiality  which  had 
ahvavs  before  existed. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  337 

minutes  of  solitude  during  the  twenty-four  hours.  As  one  leaves  another 
calls.  .  .  .  When  the  Cabinet  will  be  announced  I  do  not  know.  Mr. 
Toombs,  I  think,  will  be  sent  in  for  the  State  Department.  He  declined 
at  first.  The  President  telegraphed  him  asking  a  reconsideration,  and  he 
replied  last  night  that  he  would  accept  temporarily.  He  wishes  to  hold 
his  place  in  the  Senate  under  the  Provisional  Government.  The  President 
seems  to  be  entirely  confidential  in  his  relations  with  me." 

February  21st. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "I  am  occupied  day  and  night;  never 
did  I  have  such  a  heavy  load  of  work  on  my  hands.  Sometimes  I  think 
I  shall  sink  under  it.  If  it  was  not  for  calls  and  visitors  I  could  get 
along  ;  but  almost  every  moment  of  the  day,  when  I  am  out  of  Congress, 
until  twelve  at  night,  I  have  to  receive  and  talk  to  people  calling  to  see 
me  on  business.  As  to  public  affairs  here,  I  am  gratified  in  feeling  able  to 
say  that  they  promise  better  for  the  future  than  I  expected.  I  am,  how 
ever,  still  filled  with  solicitude  and  anxiety.  My  every  effort  is  devoted  to 
the  public  weal,  and  my  earnest  hopes  are  that  all  will  yet  end  well. 
Greater  difficulties  surround  us  than  I  fully  realize  :  perhaps  I  am  more 
apprehensive  in  relation  to  their  extent  and  magnitude  than  I  ought  to 
be.  I  knowr  I  am  much  more  so  than  the  majority  of  those  with  whom 
I  come  in  contact.  Still,  I  cannot  divest  myself  of  deep  anxiety,  and  a 
consideration  that  we  have  more  troubles  ahead  than  many  of  our  more 
sanguine  friends  see  or  realize.  There  is  more  conservatism,  as  it  is 
called,  in  Congress  than  I  expected  to  see.  and  this  increases  my  hopes. 

"I  was  induced  to  accept  the  place  under  the  Provisional  Government 
assigned  to  me  from  no  motive  in  the  world  but  a  desire  to  promote  the 
public  weal.  I  thought  it  would  have  that  effect,  and  therefore  could  not 
decline.  As  far  as  my  individual  wishes  are  concerned,  I  assure  you  I 
would  not  exchange  the  pleasures  of  one  day  at  my  quiet  home  for  all 
the  honors  or  emoluments  of  all  the  offices  and  powers  this  world  could 
bestow. 

"  It  will  require  a  great  deal  of  patience,  forbearance,  and  patriotism  on 
the  part  of  the  people  to  bear  us  successfully  through  the  dangers  that  sur 
round  us.  All  must  be  content  with  knowing  that  we  will  do  the  best  we 
can  under  the  circumstances  :  this,  I  think,  is  the  desire  of  Congress,  and  to 
this  end  their  labors  will  be  devoted.  And  what  they  do  will  be  sustained 
by  a  generous  patriotism  on  the  part  of  the  people.  Many  inconveniences 
incident  to  a  change  of  government  will  be  looked  for  and  borne  with 
fortitude  by  the  people.  War  I  look  for  as  almost  certain.  Every  effort 
should  be  made  to  avoid  it,  if  possible,  consistent  with  honor  and  right. 
But  we  are  told  by  high  authority  that  '  offences  must  needs  come' ;  and 
I  think  this  is  one  of  the  occasions  on  which  we  may  expect  such  a  result." 


CHAPTEE    XXXV. 

Peace  Congress  —  Commissioners  appointed  to  the  United  States  Government 

—  How  Mr.  Davis  was  nominated  —  Character  of  the  Confederate  Congress 

—  The  South  and  the  West  —  Hopes  and  Fears  —  Action  of  the  Federal 
Government  —  Secretary   Seward's    "Faith"  —  A   Declaration   of  "War  — 
Speech  at  Savannah  —  Capture  of   Fort  Sumter  —  Call  for  Seventy-five 
Thousand  Men  —  Secession  of  Virginia  —  Sent  as  Commissioner  to  Kich- 
mond  —  The  19th  of  April   in    Baltimore  —  Excitement   throughout  the 
South  —  Convention  "between  Virginia  and  the  Confederate  States  —  Finan 
cial  Policy  of  Mr.  Stephens  —  Death  of  Mr.  Douglas  —  Linton  joins  the 
Army  —  Mr.  Stephens  in  Eichmond. 


can  but  briefly  indicate  the  political  events  that  were 
occurring  at  this  critical  time.  On  the  4th  of  February  what 
was  called  the  Peace  Congress,  for  devising  some  plan  for  paci 
fication,  met  at  Washington  at  the  call  of  Virginia.  Thirteen 
Northern  and  seven  Southern  States  were  represented  in  it. 
The  attitude  of  the  Northern  delegates  was  one  of  defiance;  and 
their  most  distinguished  man,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  afterwards 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  declared  emphatically  that 
the  North  and  West  would  never  fulfil  their  constitutional 
obligations  or  regard  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  upon 
the  question  of  slavery  ;  that  they  would  never  allow  the  South 
a  share  in  the  common  territory,  nor  return  fugitive  slaves. 
That  they  considered  that  those  "principles,"  as  he  called  them, 
had  triumphed  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  would  be 
maintained  at  all  hazards.  With  such  an  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  North,  of  course  any  reconciliation  was  impossible,  and 
the  Peace  Congress  accomplished  nothing  except  giving  the 
South  clearly  to  understand  that  fact. 

On  the  15th  of  February  the  Confederate  Congress  passed 
a  resolution  instructing  the  President  to  appoint,  after  his  in 
auguration,  three  Commissioners  to  be  sent  to  the  United  States 
Government  "for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  friendly  relations" 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  389 

"and  for  the  settlement  of  all  questions  of  disagreement."  The 
President-elect  had  not  yet  reached  Montgomery,  but  after  his 
inauguration,  in  compliance  with  the  resolution,  appointed 
Mr.  John  Forsyth,  of  Alabama,  Mr.  Martin  J.  Crawford,  of 
Georgia,  and  Mr.  A.  B.  Roman,  of  Louisiana, — all  three  able 
and  patriotic  men. 

February  23d. — (To  Linton.)  "  I  concur  with  you  as  to  Mr.  Toombs's 
superior  qualifications  for  the  Presidency  to  those  of  any  other  man  con 
nected  with  the  late  secession  movement,  and  I  have  but  little  doubt  that 
he  would  have  been  elected  but  for  one  thing,  which  I  will  explain  hereafter. 

"  I  went  to  see  the  President  this  morning  on  his  invitation  through 
Mr.  Secretary  Memminger.  He  wanted  me  to  head  the  Commission  to 
Washington.  I  declined,  because  I  did  not  think  I  could  do  any  good. 
I  have  no  idea  that  Mr.  Buchanan  will  recognize  our  Government  or  enter 
into  any  treaty  with  us.  He  may  entertain  the  question  so  far  as  to 
receive  the  Commissioners  officially,  and  then  turn  them  over  to  his  suc 
cessor.  This  even  is  doubtful.  That,  it  is  true,  would  be  a  great  point 
gained.  But  still  the  Commission,  I  think,  will  end  without  success.  At 
least  I  see  no  other  prospect,  so  far  as  any  efforts  I  could  exert.  Under 
these  feelings  I  declined,  and  urged  upon  him  the  appointment  of  one 
man  from  each  of  the  late  great  divisions  of  the  Southern  people :  one 
Bell  man,  one  Douglas  man,  and  one  Breckenridge  man.  As  the  Bell 
man,  Judge  Ililliard,  of  this  State  ;  as  the  Douglas  man,  II.  V.  Johnson, 
of  Georgia  ;  the  Breckenridge  man,  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  who  is  to  be 
the  Attorney-General.  Whom  he  will  appoint  I  do  not  know,  but  think 
he  will  take  Governor  Roman,  of  Louisiana,  for  the  Bell  man.  Yancey  and 
Slidell  will  be  on  the  mission  to  go  abroad.  Who  the  other  will  be,  if 
there  is  a  third,  I  do  not  know.  This  is  not  agreed  upon.  Mallory,  of 
Florida,  will  be  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Elliot,  of  Mississippi, 
Postmaster-General.  The  Florida  people  are  very  much  opposed  to  Mal 
lory,  but  I  think  he  Avill  be  presented." 

The  explanation  promised  Linton  in  this  letter  was  afterwards 
given  by  Mr.  Stephens  in  conversation  with  R.  M.  J.  (May 
24th,  1862),  and  noted  at  the  time: 

MR.  S. — "  What  I  know  about  Mr.  Davis's  nomination  for  President 
can  be  told  in  few  words.  Toombs  and  I,  as  we  got  upon  the  cars  at 
Crawfordville,  on  our  way  to  Montgomery,  met  Mr.  Chestnut.  The  latter 
said  that  the  South  Carolina  delegation  had  talked  the  matter  over,  and 
looked  to  Georgia  for  the  President.  I  remarked  that  either  Mr.  Toombs, 
Mr.  Cobb,  Governor  Jenkins,  or  Governor  Johnson  would  suit  very  well. 
He  answered  that  they  were  not  looking  to  any  of  the  others,  but  to  Mr. 
Toombs  and  myself.  I  told  them,  very  frankly,  that  I  did  not  wish  the 


390  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

office  ;  that  as  I  had  not  been  in  the  movement,  I  did  not  think  it  policy 
to  put  me  in  for  it.  After  getting  to  Montgomery,  Mr.  Keitt  told  me  that 
I  was  the  preference  of  the  South  Carolina  delegation,  and  asked  if  I 
would  serve  if  elected.  I  told  him  that  I  would  not  say  in  advance 
whether  I  would  or  would  not  accept.  Even  if  unanimously  chosen,  I 
would  first  consider  whether  or  not  I  could  organize  a  Cabinet  with  such 
concert  of  ideas  and  ability  as  to  justify  hopes  of  success  on  such  line  of 
policy  as  I  should  pursue. 

"  The  night  after  the  adoption  of  the  permanent  Constitution,  the  motion 
was  made  to  go  into  the  election  of  chief  officers.  It  was  then  suggested 
that  the  election  should  take  place  the  next  day  at  twelve  M.,  and  in  the 
mean  time  the  delegations  should  consult  separately.  The  Georgia  dele 
gation  met  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the  election.  I 
proposed  that  we  put  in  the  name  of  Mr.  Toombs  for  the  Presidency,  and 
asked  him  if  he  would  have  it.  He  said  he  would  accept  it  if  it  was 
cordially  offered  him.  Mr.  T.  Cobb  and  F.  T.  Bartow*  said  that  the  dele 
gations  of  Florida,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  and  Louisiana  had  conferred, 
and  agreed  to  support  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Toombs  seemed  very  incredulous 
of  this,  and  his  manner  indicated  some  surprise.  I  did  not  understand 
this  then,  but  did  afterwards.  The  statement  was  reiterated  ;  and  upon 
it  the  delegation  forbore  to  nominate  Mr.  Toombs,  but  determined  to 
appoint  a  committee  to  ascertain  if  the  report  was  true.  Mr.  Kenan  then 
proposed  that  if  it  should  be  correct  I  should  be  put  forward  for  Vice- 
President.  Judge  Nisbet  said,  '  I  second  that,  heartily !'  Mr.  Toombs 
said,  'I  do,  too  ;  what  do  you  say,  Aleck?'  I  replied  that  I  had  not  been 
in  the  movement,  and  doubted  the  policy  of  my  assuming  any  office.  But 
still  there  might  be  reasons  why  I  should :  as  for  the  sake  of  harmony  5 
that  if  I  were  to  have  any,  I  decidedly  preferred  the  Vice-Presidency  to 
any  office  in  the  Government,  but  would  not  accept  it  unless  it  should  be 
tendered  me  unanimously  by  the  States  and  by  every  delegate.  Mr. 
Crawford  was  then  appointed  a  committee  of  one  to  ascertain  and  report 
to  us,  first,  whether  the  report  as  to  the  action  of  those  States  was  true ; 
and,  second,  if  my  nomination  would  be  acceptable  to  the  entire  body. 
Very  soon  he  returned  and  announced  that  both  the  conditions  were  ful 
filled.  I  afterwards  learned  that  the  action  of  the  States  alluded  to  was 
based  upon  intelligence  received  by  them  the  night  before  that  Mr.  Cobb 
would  be  presented  by  the  Georgia  delegation,  and  that  Mr.  Davis  was 
not  their  choice.  Toombs  was  the  choice  of  the  Florida,  the  Louisiana, 
and  the  South  Carolina  delegations." 

J. — "Did  not  Mississippi  desire  Mr.  Davis?" 

S. — "  They  did  not.  They  wished  him  to  be  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army.  That  was  what  he  wished  also.  He  did  not  desire  to  be 
President." 

J. — "  For  whom  was  Alabama?" 

*  Afterwards  General  Bartow,  killed  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.       39 1 

S. — "  For  Mr.  Toombs,  I  think.  It  was  in  consequence  of  the  under 
standing  I  spoke  of  that  I  did  not  go  to  the  hall  when  the  election  took 
place." 

~--  February  25th. — (To  Linton.)  "  The  President  has  sent  in  nominations 
for  the  Commission  to  Washington  [names  given  as  in  letter  of  23d]  and 
they  have  been  confirmed.  I  do  not  think  Crawford  will  accept  the  appoint 
ment  tendered  him.  He  knew  not  one  thing  about  it  until  Mr.  Toombs  told 
him  about  an  hour  before  his  name  was  sent  in.  lie  does  not  wish  it. 
He  was  very  anxious  that  Johnson  should  be  appointed,  and  is  exceedingly 
embarrassed  in  his  present  position." 

Februanj  26th. — "  I  am  now  in  hopes  we  shall  get  through  with  the 
permanent  Constitution  by  an  early  day  in  next  week.  I  intend  to  go 
home  then.  Crawford  is  in  a  great  strait.  He  will,  I  suppose,  now  not 
decline,  but  is  greatly  embarrassed  by  it.  I  am  getting  home-sick.  I  fear 
that  the  appointing  power  will  not  act  with  sufficient  discretion  and  wis 
dom.  I  was  very  anxious  that  II.  V.  Johnson  should  be  appointed  to  Wash 
ington.  He  would  have  been  a  good  and  judicious  appointment.  Crawford 
fully  agrees  with  me  on  this  point." 

February  27th. — "  The  debates  in  this  body  are  becoming  a  great  bore 
to  •me.jpnly  occasionally  a  member  speaks  whom  I  have  any  patience 
with.^I  fear,,we  shall  not  get  through  with  the  permanent  Constitution 
in  timeiorthe  Georgia  Convention  next  wee^H-^ 

February  2Sth. — "  In  public  business  we  are  getting  on  slowly  but  har 
moniously.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  think  we  have  great  troubles 
ahead, — not  with  this  body  but  with  the  people.  I  have  a  great  deal  to 
say  to  you  when  I  see 'you,  but  I  cannot  write.  I  am  anxious  to  see  you. 
I  want  to  get  home  badly.  .  .  .  Crawford  started  for  Washington  last 
night.  My  advice  controlled  him  in  accepting  the  appointment." 

March  1st. — "  The  reason  I  have  said  so  little  on  public  affairs  .is  twofold : 
first,  the  great  uncertainty  of  anything  I  might  say  getting  safely  to  you ; 
and,  secondly,  the  great  uncertainty  of  my  mind  upon  the  course  of  events. 
All  I  can  say  would  be  speculative.  I  have  thought,  and  still  think,  we 
shall  have  war.  Still  we  may  not,  and  I  earnestly  hope  not.  In  all  my 
letters  to  friends  who  have  written  to  me  for  my  views  on  particular  ques 
tions  I  have  concluded  with  these  general  ideas,  that  great  forbearance  and 
patience  must  be  exercised  by  the  people  in  sustaining  those  necessary 
inconveniences  and  burdens  incident  to  a  change  of  government, — the 
derangements  of  the  mails,  the  derangements  of  commerce,  the  increase 
of  taxes,  these  and  a  thousand  other  things  not  thought  of  must  be  borne 
with  nerve  and  patriotism.  If  the  public  or  bodvpolitic  cannot  stand 
this  shock,  I  don't  know  what  will  become  of  us.  v^eare  getting  along  I 
harmoniously  here,  but  still  I  see  great  troubles  ahead  tliat  nobody  I  meet  I 
with  seems  to  be  in  the  least  aware"o?T)Thia  annoys  me.  We  lack  states 
manship  of  what  I  consider  the •hrrrfre'st  order.  We  have  but  little,  if  any, 
of  real  forecast.  This  renders  me  uneasy." 


392  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

March  3d. — "  Yesterday  the  President  sent  me  a  telegraphic  despatch 
he  had  just  received  from  two  gentlemen  in  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  urging 
me  to  go  to  their  State  Convention.  If  I  would  go  all  would  be  right. 
So  I  went  down  to  see  him  about  it ;  told  him  it  was  out  of  the  question 
for  me  to  go.  I  could  not  undertake  the  travel  if  there  were  no  other 
reason  ;  but  that  I  was  confident  I  could  do  no  good  if  I  were  there.  I 
advised  him  to  send  Tom  Cobb.  He  might  be  able  to  effect  something. 
He  immediately  rang  for  a  servant  and  sent  for  Cobb.  Cobb  came,  and 
the  President  stated  the  object  of  his  call.  Cobb  said  he  would  reflect 
about  it  and  give  him  an  answer  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress  at  the 
close  of  the  night  session.  This  interview  was  at  six  P.M.  We  were  to 
have  a  night  session  at  half-past  seven.  I  did  not  attend  it  in  consequence 
of  my  neuralgia,  but  Toombs  reported  to  me  this  morning  that  Cobb 
declined  to  go." 

March  3d. — After  some  sketches  of  the  personnel  of  Congress, 
he  remarks : 

,*-— - — 
Upon  the  whole,  this  Congress,  taken  all  in  all,  is  the  ablest,  soberest. 

>st  intelligent,  and  conservative  body  I  was  ever  inT>  .  .  Nobody  look 
ing  on  would  ever  take  this  Congress  for  a  set  of  revolutionists." 

March  5th. — "We  have  run  against  a  snag,  that  is,  a  disturbing  ques 
tion  in  the  formation  of  the  fundamental  law,  not  yet  decided, — cannot  say 
how  it  will  be  decided.  Some  feeling  has  been  thrown  into  the  debate, 
and  some  temper  exhibited.  .  .  .  The  general  opinion  here  is  that  war  is 
almost  certain.  This  has  been  my  opinion  all  the  time.  I  see  great 
troubles  ahead." 

March  8th. — "  The. most  exciting  of  all  the  questions  we  have  had  was 
decided  to-day.  If  we  have  no  motion  to-morrow  to  reconsider,  I  shall  be 
his  was  the  clause  relating  to  the  admission  of  other  States." 


Mr.  Stephens  desired  the  Constitution  to  be  so  framed  as  to 
idm.it  nqn-slaveholding  States  if  any  should  incline  to  enter  the 
Confederacy,  as  he  thought  might  be  the  case  with  some  of  the 
States  of  the  West.  To  this  point  he  attached  great  importance, 
and  often  dwelt  on  it  with  great  earnestness  in  conversation  with 
his  friends.  He  considered  it  a  narrow  and  most  erroneous 
policy  not  to  leave  a  way  open  for  the  admission  of  other  States, 
whether  slaveholding  or  not.  Indeed,  one  ground  of  his  oppo 
sition  to  secession  in  the  previous  year  was  that  he  foresaw  that 
such  a  policy  would  be  insisted  on  by  the  men  who  would  be 
the  leaders  in  the  new  organization.  "  We  should  be  known  as 
'  The  Black  Republic/  "  he  would  urge,  "  and  as  such  should 
be  without  sympathy  from  any  of  the  world  outside." 


LIFE  .OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  393 

After    the    secession    had    been   accomplished,   lie  was   very 
anxious  for  the  new  Government   to  adopt  such  a  policy  as 
might  induce  the  Western  States,  whose  material  interests  were 
so  closely  allied  with   those  of  the  South,  eventually  to  join 
it.     For,  to  use  a  phrase  which  we  shall  find  him  using  here^  j 
after,  he  soon  came  to  the   conclusion  that   unless  the  South 
could  conciliate  and  control  the  West  by  reason  and  ideas,  the   j 
West  and  Middle  States  would  govern  the  South  by  force.  .. 

March  10th. — "  This  is  Sunday  night.  We  got  through  the  permanent 
Constitution  last  night.  I  do  not  like  all  its  provisions.  .  .  .  The  only  hard 
contests  were  in  keeping  it  from  being  greatly  worse  than  it  is.  I  was  in 
an  agony  all  day  yesterday  for  fear  that  some  serious  mischief  might  be 
done.  A  divided  State  only  saved  us  several  times  upon  points  almost 
vital.  SLeren  still  dread  to-morrow,  tor  fear  that  some  new  motion  may 
be  brought  forward,  though  we  have  ordered  it  to  be  engrossed;  There 
are  some  yery  bad  passions  and  purposes  beginning  to  develop  themselves 
here.  I  am  constantly  suspended  between  hope  and  fear  for  the  future. 
I  have  not  yet  any  settled  conviction  or  confidence  on  which  I  can  rely.  I 
am  anxious  to  see  you,  when  I  can  confer  freely  with  you  upon  all  these 
questions.'' 

March  13th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  u  As  to  public  affairs,  I  can  only  say  that 
in  my  judgment  our  destiny,  under  Providence,  is  in  our  own  hands. 
What  our  course  shall  be  will  depend  upon  our  people.  We  are  in  the 
position  of  a  young  man  of  talent  and  ability  setting  out  in  life.  As  such 
a  one,  we  shall  be  the  architects  of  our  own  fortunes.  With  truth,  fidelity, 
integrity,  and  industry  a  young  man  of  parts  in  this  world,  under  the 
smiles  of  Heaven,  will  seldom  fail  to  succeed  ;  and  with  virtue,  patience, 
and  patriotism  on  the  part  of  our  people,  I  doubt  not  the  success,  the 
complete  success,  of  this  our  new  enterprise.  But  should  dissensions, 
strifes,  and  factions  spring  up  among  us,  all  will  go  to  ruin.  This  is  the 
riddle  of  our  present  position.  We  have  all  the  elements  of  a  great  empire. 
All  that  is  necessary  for  us  to  become  so  is  the  intelligence,  virtue,  and 
patriotism  to  wield  them  to  that  high  end.  I  am  not  without  hope  that  our 
people  will  prove  themselves  equal  to  the  demand  of  the  times." 

The  Confederate  Commissioners,  on  the  12th  of  March,  ad 
dressed  a  note  to  the  new  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Seward, 
informing  him  that  they  were  commissioned  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  Confederate  States  to  make  overtures  for  opening 
negotiations  with  that  of  the  United  States,  with  the  object  of  a 
just  and  amicable  settlement  of  the  various  questions  relating  to 
the  common  property,  public  debt,  etc.  Mr.  Seward  took  no 


394  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

official  notice  of  this  action,  but  sent  a  verbal  message  through 
Justice  John  A.  Campbell,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  well-disposed  toward  peace, 
though  an  official  answer  to  the  Commissioners,  in  his  opinion, 
would  do  harm  rather  than  good.  As  to  the  Federal  forts,  he 
promised  that  Fort  Sumter  (South  Carolina)  would  be  evacuated 
by  the  United  States  forces  in  less  than  ten  days',  and  that  noti 
fication  would  be  given  of  any  design  to  alter  the  status  of 
affairs  at  Fort  Pickens  (Florida). 

Relying  on  the  Secretary's  faith,  the  Commissioners  refrained 
to  press  for  a  direct  official  reply  to  their  note  until  they  heard 
that  a  squadron  of  seven  ships  had  put  to  sea,  under  sealed 
orders,  from  New  York  and  Norfolk.  Fearing  that  this  was 
intended  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter,  the  Commissioners  waited 
upon  Judge  Campbell  to  learn  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  the 
judge  addressed  a  note  to  Mr.  Seward,  asking  if  the  assurances 
he  had  given  in  the  latter's  name  were  to  be  kept  or  violated. 
To  this  inquiry — on  the  7th  of  April,  at  the  time  when  the 
fleet  conveying  reinforcements  and  provisions  to  Sumter  was 
nearing  Charleston  harbor — Mr.  Secretary  Seward  replied  to 
Judge  Campbell,  "Faith  as  to  Sumter  fully  kept:  wait  and 
see/7  So  soon  as  the  Commissioners  learned  what  had  been 
done,  on  the  9th  of  April,  they  notified  Mr.  Seward  that  they 
considered  the  action  of  the  United  States  Government,  under 
the  circumstances,  "a  declaration  of  war,"  and  they  withdrew 
from  Washington.  Judge  Campbell,  who  had  been  made  an 
involuntary  instrument  in  this  act  of  perfidy,  soon  after  resigned 
his  seat  on  the  Supreme  Bench. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  Mr.  Stephens,  by  request,  addressed 
the  citizens  of  Savannah  on  the  state  of  public  affairs.  The 
Athena3iim  building  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  a 
large  assemblage  collected  outside  the  building,  and  remained 
though  unable  to  obtain  admittance.  This  address,  from  an  ex 
pression  which  occurs  in  it,  and  which  was  grossly  misrepre 
sented,  was  known  as  the  "  Corner-stone''  speech.  It  was  delivered 
impromptu,  and  very  imperfectly  reported. 

After  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
Confederate  States  embodied  all  the  essentials  of  the  old  Consti- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   If.  STEPHENS.  395 

tution,  he  proceeds  to  enumerate  the  changes  which  had  been 
introduced  into  the  new  instrument,  which  made  it,  in  his  judg 
ment,  decidedly  better  than  the  old. 

"  Allow  me  briefly  to  allude  to  some  of  these  improvements.  The  ques 
tion  of  building  up  class  interests,  or  fostering  one  branch  of  industry  to 
the  prejudice  of  another  under  the  exercise  of  the  revenue  power,  which 
gave  us  so  much  trouble  under  the  old  Constitution,  is  put  at  rest  forever 
under  the  new.  We  allow  the  imposition  of  no  duty  with  a  view  of  giv 
ing  advantage  to  one  class  of  persons,  in  any  trade  or  business,  over  those 
of  another.  All,  under  our  system,  stand  upon  the  same  broad  principles 
of  perfect  equality.  Honest  labor  and  enterprise  are  left  free  and  unre 
stricted  in  whatever  pursuit  they  may  be  engaged.  This  subject  came 
well-nigh  causing  a  rupture  of  the  old  Union,  under  the  lead  of  the  gallant 
Palmetto  State,  which  lies  on  our  border,  in  1833.  This  old  thorn  of  the 
tariff,  which  was  the  cause  of  so  much  irritation  in  the  old  body  politic,  is 
removed  forever  from  the  new.': 

After  showing  how  the  abuses  which,  under  the  pretence  of 
"  Internal  Improvements/'  had  been  perpetrated  under  a  wrested 
construction  of  the  old  Constitution,  were  done  away  with  in  the 
new,  by  leaving  every  locality  to  bear  the  burdens  necessary  for 
its  own  commerce  or  industry,  he  continues : 

"Another  feature  to  which  I  will  allude  is,  that  the  new  Constitution 
provides  that  Cabinet  Ministers  and  heads  of  Departments  may  have  the 
privilege  of  seats  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives, — may  have  the  right  to  participate  in  the  debates  and  discussions 
upon  the  various  subjects  of  administration.  I  should  have  preferred  that 
this  provision  should  have  gone  further  and  required  the  President  to 
select  his  constitutional  advisers  from  the  Senate  arid  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  That  would  have  conformed  entirely  to  the  practice  in  the 
British  Parliament,  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  one  of  the  wisest  provisions 
in  the  British  constitution.  It  is  the  only  feature  that  saves  that  gov 
ernment.  It  is  that  which  gives  it  stability  in  its  facility  to  change  its 
administration.  Ours,  as  it  is,  is  a  great  approximation  to  the  right 
principle. 

"  Under  the  old  Constitution,  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  instance, 
had  no  opportunity,  save  by  his  annual  reports,  of  presenting  any  scheme 
or  plan  of  finance  or  other  matter.  He  had  no  opportunity  of  explaining, 
expounding,  enforcing,  or  defending  his  views  of  policy:  his  only  resort 
was  through  the  medium  of  an  organ.  In  the  British  Parliament,  the 
Premier  brings  in  his  budget  and  stands  before  the  nation  responsible  for 
its  every  item.  If  it  is  indefensible,  he  falls  before  the  attacks  upon  it, 
as  he  ought  to.  This  will  now  be  the  case,  to  a  limited  extent,  under  our 


396  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS. 

system.  In  the  new  Constitution  provision  has  been  made  by  which  our 
heads  of  Departments  can  speak  for  themselves  and  the  Administration  in 
behalf  of  its  entire  policy,  without  resorting  to  the  indirect  and  highly  ob 
jectionable  medium  of  a  newspaper.  It  is  to  be  greatly  hoped  that  under 
our  system  we  shall  never  have  what  is  known  as  a  government  organ. 

"  Another  change  in  the  Constitution  relates  to  the  length  of  the  tenure 
of  the  Presidential  office.  In  the  new  Constitution  it  is  six  years  instead 
of  four,  and  the  President  is  rendered  ineligible  for  re-election.  This  is 
certainly  a  decidedly  conservative  change.  It  will  remove  from  the  in 
cumbent  the  temptation  to  use  his  office  or  exert  the  powers  confided  to 
him  for  any  objects  of  personal  ambition.  The  only  incentive  to  that 
higher  ambition  which  should  move  and  actuate  one  holding  such  high 
trusts  in  his  hands  will  be  the  good  of  the  people,  the  advancement, 
prosperity,  safety,  honor,  and  true  glory  of  the  Confederacy." 

What  lie  said  on  the  subject  of  the  "  corner-stone"  was  sub 
stantially  this : 

"  On  the  subject  of  slavery  there  was  no  essential  change  in  the  new 
Constitution  from  the  old.  As  Judge  Baldwin,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  had  announced  from  the  Bench  several  years  before, 
that  slavery  was  the  corner-stone  of  the  old  Constitution,  so  it  is  of  the 


On  the  llth  of  April,  General  Beauregard,  commanding  the 
Confederate  forces  in  Charleston,  demanded  the  evacuation  of 
Fort  Sumter.  On  the  next  day  he  opened  fire  upon  the  fort, 
and  the  conynander  capitulated  on  the  13th.  On  the  15th,  Mr. 
Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand 
troops;  and  on  the  17th,  Virginia,  whose  Convention  was  still 
in  session,  withdrew  from  the  Union. 

April  17th. — "  There  is  no  truth  whatever  in  the  telegraphic  despatches 
that  the  President  intends  to  head  an  expedition  to  Washington,  and  to 
leave  me  at  the  head  of  the  Government  here.  lie  has  no  idea  at  present 
to  take  command  of  the  army.  The  matters  he  wished  to  consult  me 
about  [Mr.  Stephens  had  paid  a  short  visit  to  Linton  during  the  adjourn 
ment,  and  had  returned  to  Montgomery  in  response  to  a  telegram  from 
the  President]  were  the  subjects  of  receiving  volunteers  from  the  Border 
States,  the  issuing  of  letters  of  marque,  and  other  matters  relating  to  the 
state  of  the  country.  A  proclamation  will  be  forthcoming  to-morrow,  I 
expect,  inviting  privateering.  The  proposals  will  be  received  and  held 
ready  for  the  action  of  Congress  when  that  body  meets.  The  proclamation 
will  be  put  forth  to  let  the  Northern  merchants  know  what  they  may 
expect,  and  to  have  privateers  ready. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  397 

"  It  is  expected  here  that  Virginia  will  secede,  and  all  the  Border  States 
will  follow  her ;  and  then,  I  think,  the  whole  North  will  consolidate.  This 
will  keep  the  Republicans  in  power.  This  is  perhaps  what  they  are  mainly 
aiming  at.  But  events  happen  so  rapidly  now  that  it  is  useless  to  specu 
late  two  days  ahead." 

April  18th. — "  The  news  came  that  Virginia  was  out.  Great  rejoicing — 
firing  cannon,  etc.  The  day  is  brilliant.  The  news  this  morning  is  that 
General  Scott  has  resigned.  This  is  important,  if  true." 

April  10th. — "  In  a  few  hours  I  am  to  start  for  Richmond.  I  shall,  if 
nothing  Providential  prevents,  pass  by  home  to-morrow  evening,  and  shall 
mail  this  on  the  road.  I  go  to  Virginia  as  a  representative  of  this  Gov 
ernment  in  forming  a  treaty  of  alliance  offensive  and  defensive  between 
this  Government  and  that  State.  She,  of  course,  will  soon  be  a  member 
of  this  Confederacy.  But  Governor  Letcher  has  telegraphed  for  a  Com 
mission  to  be  sent  on  forthwith,  that  the  two  Governments  may  act  in 
concert  in  the  impending  dangers.  They  want  help,  expecting  a  hard 
fight  soon.  They  are  about,  I  take  it,  to  seize  Harper's  Ferry  and  the 
Navy  Yard  at  Portsmouth.  Perhaps  they  are  looking  for  an  attack  from 
Washington. 

"  I  was  strongly  inclined  not  to  accept  the  position,  owing  to  my  health 
and  the  apprehension  that  night  travel  might  make  me  sick  ;  but  upon  the 
urgent  request  of  the  President  and  all  his  Cabinet  I  have  consented  to  go. 
The  subject  admits  of  no  delay  :  Letcher  telegraphed  for  immediate  action." 

April  19th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  After  expressing  his  deep  sorrow 
at  hearing  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Church,  wife  of  Dr.  Church, 
President  of  the  college,  in  whose  family  he  had  resided  during 
his  collegiate  studies,  he  continues  : 

"Events  of  the  greatest  magnitude  are  now  almost  hourly  developing. 
When  the  war  that  has  now  commenced  will  end  no  human  power  can 
divine.  The  issues  are  with  Him  who  rules  the  universe,  in  whose  hands 
are  the  destinies  of  nations.  .  .  .  The  idea  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  urge  a  gen 
eral  war  of  subjugation  against  us  seems  to  me  to  be  too  preposterous  for 
a  sensible  man  to  entertain.  But  what  his  real  designs  are  I  suppose  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine.  The  worst  feature  about  it  in  prospect  is  the 
possibility  that  he  has  no  real  design  on  the  subject,  that  he  has  no  settled 
policy,  that  he  is,  like  the  fool,  scattering  fire  without  any  definite  purpose." 

On  the  18th  of  April  the  first  Federal  troops  passed  through 
Baltimore,  and  much  excitement  was  created,  though  their  pass 
age  was  not  opposed.  On  the  19th,  a  Massachusetts  regiment, 
on  its  way  through  the  city,  was  pelted  with  stones  by  a  mob, 
and  fired  upon  the  people.  They  were  then  fiercely  attacked, 
and  several  were  killed  on  both  sides,  being  the  first  blood  shed 


398  LJFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

in  the  war.  The  greatest  excitement  prevailed  :  telegraph  wires 
were  cut,  and  the  bridges  destroyed  on  the  roads  leading  to  the 
North,  to  prevent  the  further  passage  of  troops.  The  mayor 
of  Baltimore  sent  three  prominent  citizens  to  wait  upon  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  and  represent  that  any  further  attempt  to  pass 
Northern  troops  through  the  city  would  lead  to  a  bloody  con 
flict  ;  upon  which  the  President  promised  that  no  more  should 
be  sent  through.  They  were  afterwards  sent  by  the  way  of 
Annapolis,  but  considerable  delay  was  thus  occasioned. 

On  the  same  day  (19th)  a  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  seven 
Confederate  States  was  declared,  and  on  the  27th  this  blockade 
was  extended  to  those  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  On 
this  day  also  (27th)  President  Lincoln  authorized  the  suspension 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  near  the  military  lines,  and  on  the 
10th  of  May  authorized  its  suspension  in  Florida,  all  which  acts 
were  confirmed  by  the  Federal  Congress  early  in  July. 

April  22d,  Richmond. — "I  arrived  this  morning  at  six  o'clock;  came 
through  without  stopping  or  any  detention.  All  is  excitement  here.  War 
like  preparations  are  seen  at  every  corner  and  along  every  street.  .  .  .  The 
Governor  of  Maryland*  is  with  us.  They  are  making  strong  resistance 
to  the  inarch  of  Federal  troops  through  that  State.  Ten  or  fifteen  thousand 
troops  are  detained  on  the  other  side  of  Baltimore.  They  are  for  Wash 
ington.  A  desperate  and  sanguinary  conflict  is  at  hand  there.  Maryland 
will  be  the  battle-ground  at  first, — this  I  think  probable.  General  Scott 
has  not  resigned  and  will  not,  from  best  advices.  We  are  on  the  eve  of  a 
tremendous  conflict  between  the  sections.  Sentiment  is  rapidly  consoli 
dating  on  both  sides  of  the  line.  North  Carolina  is  in  a  blaze  from  one 
extremity  to  the  other..  Yesterday,  Sunday  as  it  was,  large  crowds  were 
assembled  at  all  the  stations  along  the  railroad, — at  Wilmington  five  thou 
sand  at  least,  the  Confederate  flag  flying  all  over  the  city.  I  had  to  make 
them  a  speech  at  all  the  places, — only  a  few  words  at  some,  and  longer  at 
others ;  at  Wilmington  nearly  half  an  hour.  I  alluded  to  the  Sabbath, 
and  made  the  remarks  as  appropriate  as  possible.  They  were  more  like 
a  sermon  than  a  political  speech. 

"  To-morrow,  at  one  o'clock,  I  am  to  meet  the  State  Convention  here  in 
closed-doors  session.  The  mails  north  are  all  stopped,  and  there  is  no 
travelling  even  to  Alexandria  without  special  passport.  Our  people  in 

*  Governor  Hicks,  who,  after  asseverating  publicly,  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  that  he  would  never  draw  the  sword  of  Maryland  against  a  sister 
State,  became  one  of  the  most  pliant  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  Gov 
ernment  at  Washington. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  399 

Georgia  have  no  idea  of  the  feelings  entertained  here  of  the  dangers  of 
impending  war  hanging  on  their  immediate  borders.  All  the  cities  and 
towns  of  Virginia  are  under  guard  day  and  night ;  and  all  persons  not 
able  to  give  an  account  of  themselves  taken  up.  There  is  a  strong  incli 
nation  on  the  part  of  some  here  to  make  an  attack  upon  Washington. 
What  course  and  policy  will  be  adopted  is  not  yet  determined  upon.  .  .  . 

"  The  people  are  in  apprehension  this  city  will  be  attacked  by  the  forces 
now  in  the  Chesapeake  and  Potomac  below.  There  are  no  forts  on  the 
James  River  to  prevent  armed  ships  from  coming  up.  The  Pawnee,  Cum 
berland,  and  others,  with  a  large  force  of  soldiers  at  Old  Point,  are  below. 
I  must  now  close  for  the  mail.  May  God  bless  you  and  save  our  land  from 
bloodshed  !" 

April  25th. — u  The  work  of  my  mission  is  in  suspense  before  the  Con 
vention, — been  so  hung  up  since  yesterday.  I  am  anxious  as  to  its  fate. 
The  Virginians  will  debate  and  speak,  though  war  be  at  the  gates  of  their 
city.  I  shall  be  highly  gratified  if  the  convention  I  have  entered  into  with 
the  Committee  of  the  Convention  shall  be  ratified  by  that  body.  If  it  be 
rejected,  I  hardly  know  what  course  to  pursue. 

"This  city  is  all  excitement.  Fifteen  thousand  troops  are  nowhere. 
All  Virginia  is  in  arms.  Unless  things  have  greatly  changed  in  Georgia 
since  I  left,  you  can  have  no  idea  of  the  state  of  things  here.  Yet  the 
Convention  acts  slowly:  they  are  greatly  behind  the  times.  The  first 
night  I  got  here  I  made  a  speech  in  response  to  a  serenade.  The  next  day 
I  addressed  the  Convention  in  secret  session.  All  that  I  have  said  here,  I 
am  told,  has  been  well  received  by  all  parties. 

"  My  health  holds  up  tolerably  well ;  though  I  was  very  much  relaxed 
and  rather  feeble  the  first  two  days.  I  am  now  stronger  and  better.  Though 
I  cannot  be  with  you  in  person,  my  thoughts  are  with  you." 

The  Ordinance  adopting  the  Convention  entered  into  between 
Virginia  and  the  Confederate  States,  and  the  text  of  the  Con 
vention  itself,  ran  as  follows: 

"  An  Ordinance  for  the  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 

"WE,  the  delegates  of  the  People  of  Virginia,  in  Convention  assembled, 
solemnly  impressed  by  the  perils  which  surround  the  Commonwealth,  and 
appealing  to  the  Searcher  of  Hearts  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions  in 
assuming  the  grave  responsibility  of  this  act,  do,  by  this  Ordinance,  ADOPT 
AND  RATIFY  the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the  Con 
federate  States  of  America,  ordained  and  established  at  Montgomery,  Ala 
bama,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1861  ;  provided  that  this  Ordinance  shall  cease 
to  have  any  legal  operation  or  effect  if  the  People  of  this  Commonwealth, 
upon  the  vote  directed  to  be  taken  on  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed  by 
this  Convention  on  the  17th  day  of  April,  1861,  shall  reject  the  same. 

"A  true  copy.  JOHN  L.  EUBANK,  Secretary:'' 


400  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

11  CONVE.VTION    BETWEEN    THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF  VIRGINIA    AND    THE  CON 
FEDERATE   STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

"  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  VIRGINIA,  looking  to  a  speedy  union  of  said 
Commonwealth  and  the  other  slave  States  with  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  for  the  Provisional 
Government  of  said  States,  enters  into  the  following  temporary  Convention 
and  Agreement  with  said  States,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  pressing 
exigencies  affecting  the  common  rights,  interests,  and  safety  of  said  Com 
monwealth  and  said  Confederacy  : 

"  1st.  Until  the  union  of  said  Commonwealth  with  said  Confederacy 
shall  be  perfected,  and  said  Commonwealth  shall  become  a  member  of  said 
Confederacy,  according  to  the  Constitutions  of  both  Powers,  the  whole 
military  force  and  military  operations,  offensive  and  defensive,  of  said 
Commonwealth,  in  the  impending  conflict  with  the  United  States,  shall  be 
under  the  chief  control  and  direction  of  the  President  of  said  Confederate 
States,  upon  the  same  principles,  basis,  and  footing  as  if  said  Common 
wealth  were  now  and  during  the  interval  a  member  of  said  Confederacy. 

"  2d.  The  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  will,  after  the  consummation  of  tho 
union  contemplated  in  this  Convention,  and  her  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
for  a  Permanent  Government  of  the  said  Confederate  States,  and  she  shall 
become  a  member  of  said  Confederacy  under  said  permanent  Constitution, 
if  the  same  occur,  turn  over  to  the  said  Confederate  States  all  the  public  pro 
perty,  naval  stores,  and  munitions  of  war,  etc.,  she  may  then  be  in  possession 
of,  acquired  from  the  United  States,  on  the  same  terms  and  in  like  manner 
as  the  other  States  of  said  Confederacy  have  done  in  like  cases. 

"3d.  "Whatever  expenditures  of  money,  if  any.  said  Commonwealth  of 
Virginia  shall  make  before  the  union  under  the  Provisional  Government 
as  above  contemplated  shall  be  consummated,  shall  be  met  and  provided 
for  by  said  Confederate  States. 

"  THIS  CONVENTION  entered  into  and  agreed  to,  in  the  City  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  on  the  24th  day  of  April,  1861,  by  Alexander  II  Stephens,  the 
duly  authorized  Commissioner  to  act  in  the  matter  for  the  said  Confederate 
States,  and  John  Tyler,  William  Ballard  Preston,  Samuel  McD.  Moore, 
James  P.  Ilolcombe,  James  C.  Bruce,  and  Lewis  E.  Harvie,  parties  duly 
authorized  to  act  in  like  manner  for  the  said  Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
— the  whole  subject  to  the  approval  and  ratification  of  the  proper  authori 
ties  of  both  Governments  respectively. 

"  IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  the  parties  aforesaid  have  hereto  set  their  hands 
and  seals,  the  day  and  year  aforesaid,  and  at  the  place  aforesaid,  in  duplicate 
originals.  "ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS,  [SEAL.] 

"  Commissioner  for  Confederate  States. 


[SEAL.] 
Commissioners   |    rSEAL] 


"  JOHN  TYLER, 
"WM.  B.  PRESTON, 
"S.  McD.  MOORE, 

"JAS.    P.    IIOLCOMBE, 

"JAS.  C.  BRUCE, 

"  LEWIS  E.   HARVIE,  J  (^  [SEAL.] 


for 


[SEAL.] 


[SEAL.] 
Virginia.        I    [SEAL.] 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  4Q1 

"  Approved  and  ratified  by  the  Convention  of  Virginia  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1861. 

"JOHN  L.  EUBANK,  Secretary.  JOHN  JANNEY,  President."* 

Orawfordvitte,  April  29th. — Mr.  Stephens  had  just  returned 
from  Richmond,  and  spent  a  day  at  home.  He  writes  to  Lin- 
ton,  giving  an  account  of  the  raising  a  volunteer  company  in 
Taliaferro,  and  thus  continues  : 

"  What  is  to  be  the  end  of  this  impending  conflict,  or  when  the  end  will 
be,  is  beyond  my  conjecture.  Never  was  the  country  so  thoroughly  roused, 
from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Canada  line.  The  feeling  at  the  North  is  just 
as  intense,  from  all  I  can  learn,  as  it  is  at  the  South.  If  one  general  bat 
tle  ensue,  it  will  take  many  men  to  end  the  strife.  All  things  are  in  the 
hands  of  an  overruling  Providence,  and  He  will  shape  events  according  to 
the  counsels  of  His  own  will.  The  race  is  not  to  the  strong  nor  the  swift. 
Let  us  trust  in  Him,  and  that  in  His  mercy  the  country  may  be  saved  from 
the  terrible  curse  of  a  general  fratricidal  war.  ...  I  feel  anxious  to  see 
the  message  of  President  Davis  delivered  to-day.  I  trust  he  will  recom 
mend  defensive  measures  only,  not  aggressive  or  offensive.  If  we  act  on 
the  defensive  strictly,  we  may  yet  avoid  a  general  war.  This  should  be 
done,  if  it  can  be,  honorably." 

Montgomery. — Several  letters  follow,  urging  Linton  to  come 
to  this  city.  He  has  been  staying  at  home,  preparing  to  raise  a 
volunteer  company. 

May  4th. — "  I  think  we  shall  move  the  Government  in  summer,  perhaps 
to  Richmond.  That  will  be  nearer  the  theatre  of  war.  I  am  prepared 
for.  and  expect,  a  prolonged  and  bloody  conflict.  It  may  not  be  so.  I 
hope  it  may  not.  But  I  have  never  believed  that  a  separation  of  the  States 
of  the  old  Confederation  would  take  place  without  a  severe  conflict  of  arms. 
How  long  it  will  last  none  can  tell.  Our  Congress  will  have  recognized 
the  existing  war,  and  made  all  arrangements  and  preparations  possible  to 
meet  it  by  the  time  this  reaches  you,  I  expect.  It  will  require  great  sac 
rifice  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  secure  the  success  of  our  cause ;  but  I 
feel  entirely  assured  their  patriotism  is  fully  equal  to  the  crisis." 

May 5th. — "We  have  no  news  here;  all  in  Congress  goes  on  smoothly. 
But  very  little  is  doing  except  preparing  for  war  on  an  extensive  scale.  It 
will  take  not  less  than  forty  millions  per  annum,  I  think,  to  maintain  our 
cause  while  the  conflict  lasts.  This,  of  course,  to  some  extent,  is  conjec 
ture.  May  God  be  with  you  and  bless  you!  Don't  fail  to  rely  on  Him 
and  put  your  trust  in  Him.'' 

*  Further  particulars  concerning  this  Convention  are  given  in  The  War 
between  the  States,  vol.  ii.  p.  378. 

26 


402  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

May  7th. — He  writes  recurring  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  anni 
versary  of  his  father's  death. 

May  13th. — "  We  shall  adjourn  on  the  18th,  or  perhaps  on  the  23d  at 
farthest,  to  meet  in  Richmond  in  July.  This  has  not  been  made  public, 
and  you  will  therefore  keep  it  secret.  I  am  glad  you  have  determined  to 
go  into  the  volunteer  service  for  the  war.  That  bill  for  the  war  is  a  good 
one :  we  shall  get  a  large  force  under  it,  but  will  not  get  all  we  shall  need 
to  meet  the  requirements,  arid  have  passed  another  bill  to  authorize  the 
President  to  receive  for  any  time  he  may  think  proper.  Both  bills  will 
accommodate  all  and  bring  a  very  effective  force  into  the  field.  Do  not 
let  the  military  ardor  of  our  people  be  lessened.  ...  I  am  very  unwell 
to-day." 

May  14th. — "Another  memorable  anniversary  of  an  epoch  of  great 
grief  and  affliction  to  me.  This  day  of  May,  1826,  your  in-other  died,  and 
with  her  death  the  fate  of  our  little  family  was  sealed.  Father  died  on 
the  7th  and  she  died  on  the  14th.  .  .  .  My  grief  was  great  on  the  death 
of  my  father, — almost  greater  than  I  could  bear ;  but  the  cup  of  affliction 
did  not  run  over  until  'ma,'  as  we  called  her,  was  also  taken  from  us. 
Then  I  felt  that  we  should  have  to  be  dispersed  ;  and  we  were  dispersed. 
Who  can  tell  what  I  suffered  at  that  period  of  my  life !  The  anniversary 
always  fills  me  with  sadness." 

Mai/  14th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "  I  have  been,  and  am  still,  overwhelmed  with 
public  affairs.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  war  of  the  hugest  magnitude. — 
in  every  issue  and  consequence  nothing  short  of  political,  and,  it  may  be, 
of  physical  existence.  What  is  to  be  the  end  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
human  speculation.  .  .  .  The  destiny  of  nations  is  in  the  hands  of  Him  who 
directs  all  things  according  to  the  counsels  of  His  own  will.  When  I  say 
rtKatno  one  can  tell  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  the  conflict,  I  do  not  intend 
?  to  be  understood  as  expressing  any  apprehensions  as  to  the  success  of  our 
|  arms, — far  from  that.  'We  cannot,  I  think,  be  conquered  or  subjugated 
I  under  proper  counsels.  But  when  is  the  conflict  to  end,  and  what  is  to 
come  after  it?  These  are  to  me  perplexing  questions.  I  have  but  little 
doubt  that  the' North  will  go  into  anarchy.  What  is  to  become  of  us? 
That  depends  upon  the  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  our  people. 
These  noblest  of  all  public  traits  (if  I  may  so  express  myself  in  desig 
nating  the  character  of  bodies  political)  will,  with  us,  soon  be  put  to  the 
severest  test.  I  will  not  permit  myself  to  doubt  that  the  people  of  the 
South  will  prove  equal  to  the  crisis.  I  do  not  concur  with  those  who 

. think  we  shall  have  a  short  war.  I  wish  I  could.  ...  I  do  not  see  any 

prospect  of  immediate  peace,  nor  can  I  see  how  it  will  ever  be  attained, — 
I  mean  fixed  and  permanent  peace  between  the  sections.  We  may  have 
suspension  of  hostilities, — truces, — temporary  stipulations,  etc.  But  how 
or  on  what  principles  a  treaty  of  permanent  peace  is  ever  to  be  effected, 
I  cannot  now  see.  For  instance,  will  the  Confederate  States  ever  make  a 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  1Q3 

treaty  that  will  not  provide  for  and  secure  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves  ?  I 
Certainly  not.  Will  any  Administration  of  the  United  States  ever  agree! 
to  such  a  treaty?  or  if  it  should,  will  the  people  of  those  States  ever  sus-J 
tain  such  an  Administration,  unless  utterly  exhausted  by  war? 

"  Congress  will  probably  adjourn  in  a  few  days.  The  next  session  will 
most  probably  meet  in  Richmond,  Virginia.  The  President,  it  is  expected, 
will  take  command  in  person  of  our  forces  now  in  the  field  on  the  border. 
He  will  doubtless  convene  Congress  at  some  place  convenient  for  him  to 
communicate  with  at  his  headquarters. 

"  One  of  the  great  pressures  now  upon  us  is  the  want  of  money.  We 
have  plenty  just  now;  but  our  expenditures  are  upon  a  basis  of  not  less, 
I  suppose,  than  forty  millions  per  annum.  How  are  we  to  get  the  money  ? 
Loans,  treasury-notes,  and  direct  taxes  are  our  only  expedients.  Taxes  to 
meet  interest  on  bonds  and  treasury-notes  must  be  raised.  It  is  thought 
that  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent,  on  the  property  of  the  Confederate  States 
will  be  sufficient.  This  will  make  the  Confederate  tax  in  Georgia  about 
four  times  what  our  State  tax  has  been  for  several  years.  Independence 
and  liberty  will  require  money  as  well  as  blood.  The  people  must  meet 
both  with  promptness  and  firmness. 

"  But  I  can  indulge  in  this  scribbling  no  further.  My  attention  has  been 
frequently  called  off  since  I  commenced.  To  this  fact  ascribe  any  inco- 
herency  in  the  line  of  thought  in  it  you  may  perceive.  It  is  written  for 
yourself  only,  not  for  the  public  in  any  sense  of  the  term.  We  are  all 
here  harmonious  and  perfectly  united,  ^fcvery  one  feels  the  dangers  that 
surround  us,  and  every  one  seems  determined  to  do  his  whole  duty.  Pri 
vate  considerations  have  all  merged  in  the  public  safety^ 

"  With  best  wishes  for  you  individually,  your  family,  and  for  our  com 
mon  cause  and  common  country,  I  will  say  no  more  except  that  I  am  not 
well." 

May  25th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "  In  my  last  I  was  certainly  not  inclined  to 
indulge  in  gloomy  forebodings, — far  from  it.  I  only  intended  to  express 
the  opinion  that  we  were  in  for  a  long  and  severe  conflict,  the  end  whereof 
no  one  can  see.  This  is  so, — that  is,  such  is  my  opinion  ;  but  while  such 
are  my  views  I  take  the  survey  without  anything  like  depression  or  gloom. 
The  future  has  to  be  mH  with  spiril  and  energy.  These  with  >  ;  •  are  tt\ 
the  highest  point  needed.  I  did  feel  the  deepest  depression  last  week  when 
in  the  penumbra  of  the  shadows  which  the  great  events  now  before  us 
were  casting  before  them.  But  all  that  has  passed  away 4  I  am  now 
nerved  for  the  conflict.^ 

"  You  say  J.  J.  hearcf  in  Montgomery  that  I  thought  there  would  be  but 
little  fighting.  This  is  a  great  mistake.  I  have  seen  it  in  the  papers  that 
I  thought  there  would  be  no  war,  but  others  thought  that  there  would  be, 
etc.  At  this  statement  I  was  almost  provoked.  For  I  have  been  of  the 
contrary  opinion  all  the  time.  I  was  hopeful  there  might  not  be,  about 
the  time  Seward  [a  line  illegible :  probably  refers  to  Seward's  promise  to 


404  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

evacuate  Sumter] — but  this  hope  I  had  only  for  a  short  time.     I  soon  saw 

it  was  a  delusion,  and  I  was  recalled  to  my  old  conviction  of  an  almost 

interminable  war.     I  know  there  are  but  few  who  agree  with  me  in  this 

opinion.    J3ut  it  is  mine,  and  has  been  all  the  time  since  the  short  period 

^-stated.    (We.-inay  have  suspensions  of  hostilities,  truces,  etc.,  but  how  a 

permanent  peace  is  ever  to  be  made  I  do  not  now  see.      I  gave  you  some 

inkling  of  the  difficulties  on  this  head  in  my  last.     I  cannot  now  repeat 

them  unless  by  enlarging  on  them.<^JBut  this  view  of  the  future  produces  no 

i     effect  upon  me  but  to  inspire  me  with  energy  to  meet  it  with  whatever 

I    magnitude  of  consequences  it  shall  involve\    We  have  the  elements  of 

Independence,  and  these  we  must  wielcFtrTtne  attainment  of  that,  without 

hope  for  any  peace  from  our  enemies,  or  even  exemption  from  aggressions, 

except  such  as  power  will  secure." 

On  May  30th,  Mr.  Johnston,  with  Judge — afterwards  Col 
onel — Thomas  W.  Thomas,  made  a  visit  to  Mr.  Stephens  at 
Crawfordville.  They  found  him  quite  sick  with  dysentery,  but 
he  had  much  to  say  about  public  matters.  Of  his  remarks  we 
append  some  notes. 

MR.  S. — "All  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  except  Blair,  were  opposed  to  the  war 
at  first, — honestly,  as  I  think.  They  were  driven  into  it  by  such  men  as 
Cassius  M.  Clay,  Jim  Lane,  and  the  Republican  Governors. 

"  The  North,  I  believe,  will  go  into  anarchy.  They  have  lost  all  appre- 
__ciation  of  constitutional  liberty.  They  may  hold  up  for  some  time,  and 
they  may  break  down  in  six  months.  The  ruin  is  certain  to  come.  They 
never  before  had  any  just  idea  of  the  value  of  the  South  to  them.  Four 
hundred  millions  would  not  cover  the  losses  they  have  already  suffered  by 
our  breaking  from  them.  They  are  now  like  leeches  that  have  been 
shaken  from  a  horse's  legs,  and  are  beginning  to  find  out  what  it  was 
that  fattened  them.  We  are  the  horse ;  and  what  they  are  determined  to 
do  is  to  get  the  horse  back  again." 

JUDGE  T. — "Governor  Cobb  thinks  that  when  Congress  meets,  the 
showing  which  Chase  will  make,  of  money,  will  drive  them  to  a  cessation 
of  hostilities." 

MR.  S. — "I  wish  from  my  heart  it  might  be  so.  But  I  tell  you  that 
there  is  not  the  slightest  chance  for  such  a  thing.  You  might  as  well 
expect  two  men,  after  they  have  stripped  and  exchanged  blows,  to  pause 
and  put  their  hands  in  their  pockets  in  order  to  see  if  they  have  money 
or  not.  When  that  Congress  meets,  it  will  become  an  assembly  of  Jacobins, 
and  will  raise  money  if  they  have  to  lay  assignats  upon  Astor  and  the 
other  rich  ones  there.  The  Administration  cannot  stop  the  war.  They 
are  pushed  on  by  the  people,  and  those  in  the  lead  who  hesitate  will  be 
bung  or  banished.  The  mild  must  give  way,to  the  violent,  as  the  Girond- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  405 

ists  gave  way  to  the  Mountain.     Seward  may  be  clever  enough  to  become 
another  Robespierre." 

JUDGE  T. — "  What  do  you  think  of  the  South  having  a  dictator?" 
MR.  S. — u  That  would  never  do.  That  would  be  the  very  worst  thing 
we  could  do.  We  are  the  only  people  on  this  continent  who  have  consti- 
tutional  liberty.  We  must  hold  on  to  that  and  not  part  from  it  for  a  day. 
"The  War  Department  is  managed  badly.  The  Secretary  is  very  in 
efficient.  He'll  'do  and  do  and  do,'  and  at  last  do  nothing.  He  is  like  a 
man  who  in  playing  chess  thinks  and  thinks  and  thinks  before  moving, 
and  at  last  makes  a  foolish  move.  He  is  very  rash  in  counsel,  and  lament 
ably  irresolute  and  inefficient  in  action.  There  were  twenty  thousand 
stand  of  arms  offered  us  for  sale.  He  postponed  it  until  after  the  fall  of 
Sumter ;  then  tried  to  get  them,  but  it  was  too  late.  Toombs  ought  to 
have  been  there.  He  is  the  brains  of  the  whole  concern." 

Iii  this  conversation  Mr.  Stephens  spoke  much  of  the  neces 
sity  of  taking  immediate  steps  to  raise  a  navy.  Judge  Thomas 
suggested  that  such  was  the  importance  of  cotton  to  England 
and  France  that  they  must  interfere  and  prevent  a  blockade. 
Mr.  Stephens  insisted  that  such  an  interference  was  not  to  be 
looked  for ;  yet  that  the  present  crop  of  cotton  would  be  of  the 
utmost  value  to  the  South  if  the  Government  would  use  it  prop 
erly.  "  Cotton  was  King,"  men  said ;  but  they  should  remember 
that  it  was  not  a  political,  but  a  commercial  king. 

"  If  the  Government  would  now  buy  one  million  of  bales,  for  which 
they  might  afford  to  give  ten  cents  a  pound,  which  is  two  cents  more  than 
the  market  price,  with  these  they  could  raise  a  navy  that  could  compete 
successfully  with  the  North.  It  is  vain  to  expect  relief  from  the  blockade 
from  foreign  powers.  We  alone  could  relieve  ourselves  of  that;  and  our 
cotton,  unless  it  was  put  toTHe^use  suggested,  would  be  of  little  impor 
tance  to  us." 

Crawfordville,  June  7th. — Congress  had  adjourned  in  Mont 
gomery  to  meet  in  Richmond  on  the  28th  of  July. 

"  Douglas,'  we  have  seen,  is  dead.  I  almost  wish  he  had  either  lived 
longer  or  died  sooner.  It  is,  however,  best  as  it  is,  since  it  is  as  it  is. 
Had  he  lived  he  might  have  had  great  power  in  staying  the  North  from 
aggressive  war.  I  can  but  think  this  would  have  been  his  position.  He 
would  have  been  against  attempted  subjugation.  He  would  have  been  for 
a  treaty,  for  recognition,  and  for  peace.  This  is  my  opinion.  But  it  may 
be  he  could  have  done  nothing ;  it  may  be  he  would  have  been  over 
whelmed  ;  it  may  be  it  is  better  for  him,  and  with  an  end  [?]  for  the 
country  that  he  is  removed.  I  have  but  little  doubt  that  the  state  of  the 


406  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

country  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his  death.  A  diseased  body  has  but 
little  recuperative  or  reactive  energy  when  the  spirits  are  low.  The  vital 
powers  depend  greatly  upon  mental  stimulus.  1  can  but  mourn  his  loss, 
though  he  was  nominally  an  alien  enemy.  lie  was  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  many  virtues.  Few  public  men  had  more  nerve  than  he  had  to  oppose 
what  he  thought  wrong,  and  to  advocate  what  he  thought  right,  against 
the  prevailing  popular  sentiment.  He  had  his  faults;  but  who  has  not? 
He  was  ambitious, — too  aspiring,  perhaps,  for  his  own  true  fame.  Had  he 
died  just  twelve  months  earlier,  what  a  difference,  perhaps,  would  our 
country  present  in  its  political  aspect!  But  for  him  there  would  have 
been  no  split  at  Charleston,  and  but  for  that  split  there  would  have  been 
no  disunion  as  yet.  Whether  that  would  have  been  better  for  us  is  known 
only  to  Him  who  shapes  the  fortunes  of  men  and  guides  the  destinies  of 
nations.  From  present  indications  it  would  seem  that  we  did  not  cut 
loose  from  the  North  too  soon.  They  will  go  into  anarchy  or  despotism. 
The  only  hope  of  constitutional  liberty  on  this  continent  is  now  with  us; 
and  whether  we  shall  successfully  pass  the  ordeal  in  store  for  us  time 
alone  can  determine." 

June  15th. — Mr.  Stephens  had  been  speaking  in  different 
places  on  the  plan  of  a  great  produce  loan,  and  had  been  sjic- 
ceeding  well.  He  has  alluded  several  times  to  his  anxiety  to 
hear  from  Mr.  Toombs,  then  Secretary  of  State,  to  whom  he 
had  written  for  information  in  regard  to  the  general  prospects. 

11 1  have  heard  from  Toombs.  He  does  not  write  in  his  usual  good 
spirits.  I  wish  you  to  see  his  letter.  Come  over  to-morrow  evening,  if 
you  can.  Mr.  Toombs's  letter  has  greatly  increased  my  desire  to  see 
you.  He  thinks  Lincoln  will  bring  on  a  big  battle  between  now  and  the 
meeting  of  his  Congress,  to  have  all  his  measures  sanctioned,  sitting  as 

they  will  be  almost  under  the  fire  of  our  guns." 

« 

There  are  but  few  more  letters  of  importance  for  this  year. 
Linton  had  raised  a  volunteer  company  for  the  war,  and  had 
gone  to  Virginia  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fifteenth  Georgia 
Regiment,  which  nearly  interrupted  the  correspondence  between 
them. 

On  the  21st  of  July  occurred  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  in 
which  the  Confederate  forces,  about  twenty  thousand  in  number, 
under  Generals  J.  E.  Johnston  and  Beauregard,  defeated  about 
sixty  thousand  Federals,  under  General  McDowell. 

Richmond,  July  29th.— (To  R.  M.  J.)  "  We  shall  probably  have  before 
long  several  such  fights  as  took  place  at  Manassas  on  the  21st.  I  have  no 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  4Q7 

idea  that  the  North  will  give  it  up.  Their  defeat  will  increase  their 
energy.  This  is  what  I  expect,  and  we  should  be  prepared  to  meet  this 
result.  The  victory  at  Manassas  was  great  and  complete.  May  all  our 
conflicts  to  come  be  as  triumphant !" 

September  3d. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  Much  of  this  letter  is  on  the 
subject  of  Linton,  who  was  with  him,  very  sick. 

"I  see  no  end  to  the  war, — not  the  slightest  prospect  of  peace.  So  far 
from  it,  all  the  signs  of  a  protracted  conflict  are  more  portentous  to  me 
than  they  have  ever  been.  The  war  on  the  part  of  the  North  is  founded 
upon  no  rational  principle.  It  is  against  principles,  against  interest,  and 
against  reason  ;  and  with  nations  it  is  as  with  individuals  when  they  act 
against  reason,  there  is  no  accounting  for  their  conduct  or  calculating 
upon  it  on  any  rational  principles.  The  reaction  at  the  North  [a  few 
words  here  are  illegible.]  .  .  . 

"  This  is  but  the  beginning.  The  guillotine,  or  its  substitute,  will  soon 
follow.  The  reign  of  terror  there  has  not  yet  fully  commenced.  The 
mob,  or  '  wide-awake'  spirit,  has  not  the  control  there  yet,  but  it  will  have 
before  the  end.  All  the  present  leaders  will  be  swept  from  the  board. 
They  will  be  deposed  or  hung  to  make  way  for  worse  men  who  are  yet 
to»  figure  in  this  great  American  drama.  .  .  .  We  have  a  great  conflict 
before  us,  and  it  will  require  all  our  energy,  our  resources,  and  patriotism, 
under  a  favoring  Providence,  to  bear  us  safely  through  it.'r 

During  the  last  months  of  the  year  Mr.  Stephens  was  in 
Richmond  in  feeble  health.  He  had,  however,  already  begun 
that  habit  of  visiting  the  hospitals  in  Richmond,  which  he 
continued  whenever  he  had  the  opportunity,  and  in  which  he 
was  able  to  render  the  most  essential  service.  Every  day  when 
he  was  able  to  walk,  and  often  when  his  ill  health  rendered 
walking  impossible,  he  was  to  be  seen  at  these  hospitals,  tending 
and  looking  after  the  sick.  This  habit  was  maintained  until 
December,  when  he  was  almost  prostrated  by  neuralgia,  and  so 
remained  for  several  weeks ;  but  so  soon  as  he  was  able  to  go 
about  again,  he  resumed  his  visitations. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

Discouragements — Policy  of  Conscription — Richmond  Hospitals — Military 
Operations — Conversations — How  Mr.  Davis  was  nominated — Prospects 
— Prospects  of  European  Recognition — Resistance  to  Martial  Law — State 
of  Things  North  and  South — Letter  to  James  M.  Calhoun — Speech  at 
Crawfordville — Financial  Policy — Education  of  Young  Men — Relations 
with  Mr.  Davis — Views  on  Men  and  Matters. 

WE  have  seen  how  strong  was  the  opposition  of  Mr.  Stephens 
to  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  from  the  Federation,  and 
the  motives  of  that  opposition.  A  firm  adherent  to  the  doctrine 
of  State  Sovereignty,  however  inexpedient  or  unwise  he  might 
consider  the  policy  of  his  native  State,  he  could  not  hesitate  to 
follow  her  behests,  and  regard  her  enemies  as  his  own.  Re 
luctant  as  he  was  to  enter  again  into  public  life,  especially  in 
circumstances  which  seemed  to  him  to  foreshadow  unhappy 
consequences,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
contribute  to  the  successful  administration  of  the  new  govern 
ment.  At  first  their  action  had  his  hearty  co-operation,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  had  at  first  some  confidence  in  its  success. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  he  began  to  entertain  serious  fears 
that  the  Confederate  Government  was  tending  towards  errors 
which,  if  committed  and  persisted  in,  would  result  in  its  over 
throw.  He  had  full  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Confederate 
States  to  maintain  their  independence,  if  their  resources  should 
be  wisely  managed  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  be  understood. 
This  people  had  withdrawn  from  the  United  States  because 
they  believed  that  they  had  been  treated  with  flagrant  injustice 
and  bad  faith,  and  their  intense  desire  was  to  preserve,  by 
means  of  this  separation,  their  rights  and  their  liberties.  Though 
they  were  inferior  in  numbers  and  wealth  to  their  adversaries, 
Mr.  Stephens  did  not  doubt  that  they  could  maintain  the  con 
flict  indefinitely,  and  eventually  obtain  from  them  and  from 
the  world  the  recognition  of  their  separate  nationality. 
408 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  409 

His  first  discouragement  came  from  what  seemed  to  him  to 

O 

be  want  of  sufficient  judgment  in  the  appointing  power;  and 
it  was  increased  by  the  failure  of  the  Administratiorrto  make 
a  judicious  use  of  the  available  resources,  especially ._the  cotton, 
according  to  the  plan  suggested  by  him.*  But  an  error  even 
more  grave,  in  his  opinion,  was  about  to  be  committed  in  the 
matter  of  raising  and  controlling  the  armies.  No  country  has 
ever  shown  more  enthusiastic  patriotism  than  existed  in  the 
Confederate  States  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  down  to 
the  close  of  the  first  year.  The  call  for  volunteers  was  answered 
with  an  alacrity  that  filled  the  South  with  confidence,  and  the 
successful  battles  of  the  summer  and  fall  of  1861  inspired  all 
men  of  military  age  with  an  eager  desire  to  join  their  com 
patriots.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  some  leading  men  of 
Congress  had  it  in  view  to  move  a  call  for  more,  for  the  volun 
teers  alone;  but  this  movement  was  discouraged  by  the  confi 
dential  friends  of  the  Administration,  and  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  policy  of  conscription  would  be  preferred.  When  this 
fact  became  known,  Mr.  Stephens  and  those  who  shared  his 
views  felt  great  discouragement  and  apprehension.  Whatever 
might  have  been  the  state  of  popular  feeling  and  spirit  after 
longer  and  harder  conflict,  it  is  certain  that  it  had  not  in  the 
least  flagged  when  this  policy  was  first  suggested.  To  mention 
the  case  of  onlylme  of  the  Confederate  States :  Governor  Brown, 
of  Georgia,  had  been  called  upon  for  twelve  thousand  more 
men;  he  responded  readily  to  the  call,  and  fifteen  thousand 
Georgians  offered  themselves.  All  the  other  States  were  equally 
ready  to  yield  every  service  in  their  power. 

Mr.  Stephens  believed  from  the  first  that  the  policy  of  con 
scription  was  dangerous,  and  might  be  fatal.  He  believed  that 
it  would  tend  to  check  the  ardor  of  the  people  by  appearing  to 
slight  their  spontaneous  patriotic  service,  and  thus  impair  what 
he  considered  the  most  promising  element  of  success — the  sense 
of  fighting  to  maintain  not  only  national  independence  but 
personal  liberty.  He  considered,  moreover,  this  policy  hostile 
to  the  rights  of  the  States  individually,  and  foresaw  the  conflict 

*  This  plan  will  be  explained  further  on. 


410  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 

which  must  ensue  between  the  General  Government  and  those 
Governors  of  States  who  might  feel  it  their  duty  to  demand  a 
strict  construction  of  Congressional  action.  The  friends  of  the 
conscription  policy  considered  these  fears  of  its  opponents  ground 
less,  and  urged  that  independence  and  not  liberty  was  the  imme 
diate  object  of  the  struggle,  that  liberty  should  be  sacrificed  to 
independence  while  the  conflict  was  pending,  and  that  after  the 
latter  was  secured,  it  would  be  quite  time  enough  to  restore  the 
former. 

Another  cause  of  apprehension  was  a  disregard  of  constitu 
tional  law  in  matters  of  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  habeas 
corpus,  and  the  subordination  of  the  civil  to  the  military  power, 
in  the  appointment  of  military  governors  in  cities  and  the 
declaration  of  martial  law  in  whole  sections  of  country. 

We  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  question  here ;  but  so  much 
seemed  necessary  to  be  said  as  explanatory  of  the  position  of 
Mr.  Stephens  toward  the  policy  of  the  Administration. 

During  this  winter  (1861-2)  his  health  was  worse  than  usual, 
and  he  had  great  anxiety  about  Linton,  who  remained  in  the 
army  until  his  health  was  seriously  impaired.  The  first  letter 
we  have  of  this  year  is  to  It.  M.  J.,  from  Richmond. 

January  12th. — "I  am  now  up  and  out,  though  suffering  to-day  with 
neuralgia  in  the  jaw  and  face.  But  I  went  to  the  hospitals, — the  first  time 
I  have  visited  them  in  five  weeks.  By  '  the  hospitals,'  I  mean  the  three 
Georgia  hospitals.  There  are  a  great  many  hospitals  in  the  city.  I  went 
to  the  Georgia  buildings  and  to  two  others.  I  was  looking  up  some  Ala 
bama  men  I  had  been  telegraphed  about. 

UI  saw  but  few  of  those  whose  faces  had  become  so  familiar  to  me 
before.  There  was  another  generation  of  suiferers  from  those  who  were 
in  the  same  places  six  or  eight  weeks  ago.  I  was  gratified  to  see  that  the 
number  of  faces  was  a  great  deal  smaller  than  it  was  in  September  and 
November.  There  were  to-day  many  empty  beds  in  all  three  of  our  build 
ings.  Several  bad  cases,  however,  met  my  eye :  several  in  the  agonies  of 
death, — none  that  I  knew.  The  scenes  I  witnessed  were  exceedingly  pain 
ful.  I  thought  of  the  homes  of  the  dying  men,  and  the  dear  ones  there 
who,  if  where  I  was,  could  have  administered  consolation  and  comfort  that 
neither  I  nor  any  of  those  around  could  administer.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to 
sicken,  languish,  and  die,  with  no  kind  friend  near." 

After  giving  some  statistics  of  the  mortality  in  the  hospitals, 
the  letter  thus  proceeds : 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  41] 

"  As  to  the  war,  I  have  nothing  of  interest  to  write.  I  see  no  prospect 
of  peace  ;  and  yet  the  indications  of  a  break-down  at  the  North  are  more 
favorable  than  they  have  been.  Qly  greatest  apprehensions  now  are  that 
there  will  "be  a  corresponding  break-down  of  the  war  spirit  on  our  part/) 
The  conduct  of  our  military  operations  and  the  discipline  of  our  army  are 
well  calculated  to  produce  this  result.  .  .  .  We  have  a  fiery  ordeal  to  go 
through  yet.  It  is  that  patience  under  wrong  and  suffering  to  which  our 
people  are  so  little  accustomed, — this  test  we  have  yet  to  be  submitted  to, 
and  it  is  the  severest  to  which  our  human  nature  can  be  subjected.  It  is 
that  to  which  the  army  under  Washington  was  submitted  when  they  were 
about  to  mutiny,  and  he  made  them  a  speech  (at  Newburg)  which,  all 
things  considered,  I  look  upon  as  the  greatest  speech  ever  made  by  man. 
In  its  conclusion  he  called  upon  the  neglected  and  ill-provided-for  soldiers 
who  had  suffered  so  much  wrongfully  from  their  Government  '  still  to 
bear — to  be  patient — to  suffer  on, — and  to  show  the  world  by  their  conduct 
that  but  for  that  day's  trial  mankind  would  have  lacked  the  highest  ex 
ample  of  virtue  that  human  nature  is  capable  of  exhibiting.'  I  do  not 
give  the  words,  but  something  of  the  idea.  And  yet  Washington  is  not 
usually  counted  among  our  orators." 

The  military  operations  in  the  early  part  of  this  year  were 
discouraging  to  the  Confederates.  The  Federals  had  collected 
two  great  armies,  one  under  General  McClellan  destined  to 
move  upon  Richmond,  and  one  under  General  Halleck  for 
operations  in  the  Southwest.  To  the  former  of  these  the  Con 
federates  opposed  the  forces  under  command  of  General  J.  E. 
Johnston,  at  Manassas,  and  to  the  latter,  those  under  General 
A.  Sidney  Johnston,  at  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky. 

On  the  19th  of  January  was  fought  the  battle  of  Fishing 
Creek,  in  Kentucky,  in  which  the  Federals,  under  command  of 
General  Thomas,  were  victorious,  and  the  Confederate  com 
mander,  General  Zollicoffer,  was  killed.  On  the  6th  of  Feb 
ruary  the  Confederates  lost  Fort  Henry,  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
and  on  the  16th  Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  River,  with 
severe  loss  in  both  cases,  and  with  the  result  that  General  A. 
S.  Johnston  was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  a  position  south  of  the 
Tennessee  River.  On  the  23d  the  Federal  forces  took  posses 
sion  of  Nashville,  and  were  pushed  forward  to  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  on  the  Tennessee.  Here  they  were  opposed  by  the  forces  of 
Generals  Sidney  Johnston  and  Beauregard,  and  on  the  6th  and 
7th  of  April  were  fought  the  two  battles  of  Shiloh,  in  the  first 
of  which  the  Confederates  lost  their  commander,  General  A.  S. 


412  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Johnston,  but  were  completely  victorious  over  the  Federal  forces 
under  General  Grant ;  but  in  the  second,  the  Federals,  having 
been  reinforced,  recovered  their  lost  ground,  with  heavy  losses 
on  both  sides.  Towards  the  end  of  May  General  Beauregard 
withdrew  his  forces  into  Mississippi.  Fort  Pillow  was  soon 
after  abandoned,  and  the  Federal  forces  occupied  Memphis. 

On  the  25th  of  March  began  the  celebrated  "  Valley  Cam 
paign"  of  the  illustrious  "  Stonewall"  Jackson,  who  on  that  day 
defeated  General  Shields  at  Kernstown.  On  the  8th  of  May 
he  defeated  General  Milroy  at  McDowell ;  on  the  25th  of  May, 
General.  Banks  at  Winchester;  on  the  8th  of  June,  General 
Fremont  at  Cross  Keys ;  and  on  the  9th  of  June,  General 
Shields  at  Port  Republic.  In  the  mean  time  G.eneral  McClellan 
had  been  slowly  advancing  on  Richmond,  much  delayed  by  the 
skilful  strategy  of  General  J.  E.  Johnston.  On  the  31st  of 
May  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines  was  fought  by  the  two  armies  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Chickahoininy.  On  the  26th  of  June, 
General  Jackson,  having  rendered  the  Federal  forces  in  the  val 
ley  powerless,  fell  on  the  rear  of  McClellan's  army.  The  "  Six 
Days'  Fighting"  followed,  by  which  McClellan  was  driven  to 
the  shelter  of  his  gunboats  on  the  James  River,  and  the  campaign 
in  the  Peninsula  was  ended.  Mr.  Lincoln  now  called  for  three 
hundred  thousand  additional  troops. 

On  the  water,  the  Federals  had  taken  Roanoke  Island  on 
February  8th.  On  March  8th  the  Confederate  iron-clad  Vir 
ginia  destroyed  the  frigates  Cumberland  and  Congress  in  Hamp 
ton  Roads.  On  the  next  day  an  engagement  took  place  between 
the  Virginia  and  the  Federal  turret  gunboat  Monitor,  in  which 
no  serious  damage  was  done  on  either  side,  but  after  about  three 
hours'  fighting  the  Monitor  ran  off  into  shoal  water,  whither  the 
Virginia,  drawing  twenty-two  feet,  could  not  follow  her,  and 
refused  to  come  out  and  renew  the  contest.  The  Virginia,  hav 
ing  received  considerable  injuries  from  ramming  the  Cumberland, 
her  cast-iron  prow  having  been  broken  off  and  the  stem  twisted, 
was  then  taken  up  to  Norfolk  for  repairs.  On  the  llth  of 
April  she  was  taken  down  to  Hampton  Roads  again  and  chal 
lenged  the  Monitor,  which  hugged  the  shore  under  the  guns  of 
the  fort  and  refused  to  fight,,  though  the  Confederate  gunboat 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  413 

Jamestown  ran  in  and  took  several  prizes.  On  the  8th  of  May 
a  squadron,  including  the  Monitor,  bombarded  the  Confederate 
batteries  at  Sewell  Point.  The  Virginia  immediately  steamed 
out  into  Hampton  Roads,  upon  which  the  Monitor  and  her 
consorts  ceased  firing  and  retreated  under  the  guns  of  the  forts. 

On  the  10th  of  May  Norfolk  was  evacuated  by  the  Confed 
erates,  and  the  pilots  declaring  that  the  Virginia  could  not  be 
taken  up  the  James  River,  she  was  destroyed  by  fire.* 

Island  No.  10  in  the  Mississippi,  which  had  been  strongly 
fortified  and  obstinately  held  by  the  Confederates,  was  taken  on 
April  7th,  and  Fort  Pulaski,  near  Savannah,  on  April  13th. 
On  the  24th  of  the  same  month  a  Federal  fleet  passed  the  forts 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  New  Orleans  surrendered. 

With  this  brief  note  of  the  military  movements  in  the  first 
half  of  the  year,  we  turn  again  to  the  correspondence. 

On  February  26th  he  writes  to  Linton  : 

<;  I  urge  you  not  to  return  to  the  array.  If,  in  the  spring,  you  are  well 
enough,  go  and  present  yourself  to  General  Toombs  as  a  volunteer  aide. 
He  will  accept  you.  You  can  then  control  your  time;  leave  when  no 
danger  is  at  hand,  and  be  present  when  danger  is  threatened.  You  will 
in  this  way  be  more  useful,  I  think,  than  in  having  a  regiment;  for  your 
greatest  usefulness,  in  my  judgment,  will  be  in  your  advice.  As  an  aide 
you  will  be  on  intimate  terms  with  the  general. 

"  General  Lee,  I  think,  will  be  made  Secretary  of  War.  I  think  well 
of  him  as  a  prudent,  safe,  and  able  general,  but  do  not  think  he  will  make 
a  good  War  Minister.  Toombs,  I  think,  would  make  the  best  in  the  Con 
federacy.  .  .  .<5jhe  message  of  the  President,  sent  into  Congress  yesterday, 
surprised  me^)  It  is  not  such  a  paper  as  I  or  the  country  expected.  But 
Ave  have  to  bear  \vjiat  we  cannot  mend.  The  country  must  work  out  its 
own  deliverance.  \£he  present  Congress  [this  was  after  the  installation  of 
the  Permanent  Government]  is  not  what  I  could  wish  to  see  it.  either  in 
the  Senate  or  Housed  Our  new  Government  is  now  in  its  crisis  :  if  it  can 
stand,  and  will  stai>#,  the  blow  that  will  be  dealt  in  the  next  eighty  or  ninety 
days,  it  may  ride  the  storm  in  safety.  .  .  . 

"P.S. — Hereafter  my  letters  to  you  will  be  without  address  or  signa 
ture,  for  fear  the  enemy  may  get  them  at  Weldon  or  Wilmington." 

April  8th. — .  .  .  "  I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  of  the  fall  of  General  Albert 

*  We  have  given  these  particulars  at  some  length,  because  most  accounts 
assert  that  the  Virginia  was  disabled  by  the  Monitor.  The  facts  as  above 
stated  are  taken  from  the  published  narrative  of  her  executive  and  ord 
nance  officer,  Lieutenant  Catesby  Ap  R.  Jones,  who  succeeded  to  the  com 
mand  after  Flag-Officer  Buchanan  was  wounded  in  the  first  day's  fighting. 


414  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Sidney  Johnston.  I  fear  he  was  reckless  in  the  fight.  I  don't  regard  the 
action  as  a  decisive  one,  as  far  as  heard  from.  The  enemy  will  make 
another,  and  perhaps  several  other  desperate  stands  at  other  places  before 
they  are  driven  out  of  West  Tennessee.  But  we  have  abundant  reason  to 
rejoice  over  our  success,  as  far  as  it  has  gone.  I  do  not,  however,  permit 
/^myself  to  be  much  elated  by  successes,  just  as  I  do  not  permit  myself  to 
^"-be-Tfiuch  depressed  by  reverses.  We  shall  have  many  bloody  battles  yet 
before  our  independence  is  achieved.  This  will  ultimately  be  done,  how 
ever,  if  our  people  will  but  have  the  patience,  fortitude,  and  patriotism  to 
stand  the  ordeal  before  them.  These,  I  trust,  will  not  fail  them." 

This  letter  just  quoted  was  written  from  Crawford ville,  Mr. 
Stephens  having  gone  home  about  the  first  of  the  month,  and 
remaining  for  several  weeks.  Mr.  Johnston  had  also  returned 
to  his  old  home  in  Hancock  County,  and  frequent  visits  were 
exchanged  between  the  brothers  Stephens  and  himself.  In  the 
confidence  of  this  circle  Mr.  Stephens  spoke  his  mind  freely  on 
public  men  and  events,  and  from  notes  made  of  his  remarks 
we  subjoin  a  few  extracts,  which  the  lapse  of  time  and  change 
of  circumstance  have  made  it  no  longer  indiscreet  to  publish. 

The  conversation  one  day  turned  upon  the  fact  that  so  few  of 
the  ablest  men  of  the  South,  even  among  those  not  in  the  army, 
seemed  to  care  for  political  office.  Mr.  Stephens  remarked  : 

"  This  is  a  very  poor  Congress.  There  are  few  men  of  ability  in  the 
House.  In  the  Senate  not  more  than  two  or  three.  Tom  Semmes  is  the 
ablest.  The  next  are  Barnwell,  Hunter,  and  Clay." 

Speaking  of  the  West  Point  policy,  he  said  : 

"  If  the  West  Point  policy  should  prevail  fully  we  shall  be  beaten.  If 
the  Southern  volunteer  should  ever  come  to  forget  that  he  is  a  gentleman 
(and  that  is  what  the  West  Point  men  say  he  must  do),  then  it  will  be 
merely  a  struggle  between  matter  and  matter,  and  the  biggest  and  heavi 
est  body  will  break  the  other.  We  have  less  matte?*,  and  to  have  equal 
momentum  we  must  have  greater  velocity  than  our  enemies,— so  to  call  cur 
spirit  and  the  consciousness  of  being  gentlemen." 

Some  one  remarked  that  the  Government  had  been  acting  with 
more  energy  lately : 

f     MR.  S. — "  The  energy  I  discover  now  seems  to  me  like  that  of  a  turtle 
/    after  fire  has  been  put  upon  his  back." 

•    MR.  J. — "  When  do  you  expect  to  go  back  to  Richmond?" 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  415 

MR.  S. — •'  Not  very  soon.  I  can  do  no  good  there.  The  policy  of  the 
Government  is  far  against  my  judgment,  and  I  am  frequently  embarrassed 
on  account  of  this  difference.  I  am  frequently  called  upon  to  give  my 
opinions,  and  I  do  so  always  with  frankness,  hut  without  asperity.  I  do 
all  I  can  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  that. 

u  The  Conscription  Act  was  very  bad  policy.  Heavy  fighting  maybe 
expected  within  the  next  few  months.  We  should  have  called  for  volun 
teers  for  the  war,  and  no  doubt  they  would  come.  It  would  have  been 
better  to  rely  upon  soldiers  thus  recruited.  Conscripts  will  go  into 
battle  as  a  horse  goes  from  home ;  volunteers,  as  a  horse  goes  towards 
home:  you  may  drive  the  latter  hard  and  it  does  not  hurt  him.  .  .  .  But 
the  day  for  a  vigorous  policy  is  past.  It  is  too  late  to  do  anything.  I  fear 
we  are  ruined  irretrievably.  .  .  . 

"What  stupendous  ignorance  we  have  shown  of  the  value  of  cotton! 
The  Government  and  those  who  favored  its  policy  did  not  undervalue  cot 
ton,  but  misunderstood  the  character  of  its  value.  In  their  opinion, 
cotton  was^  a  political  power.  There  was  the  mistake.  It  is  only  a  com- 
inerciaTpower.  If  it  had  been  understood  and  employed  in  that  way,  it 
would  have  been  easy  to  manage  the  Government  by  getting  enough  iron 
clad  ships  in  Europe  to  keep  several  ports  open.  It  is  now  too  late  for 
that.  Our  portal  system  is  closed  effectually,  and  we  cannot  stand  that 
any  more  than  a  man  can  stand  it  in  his  own  case.  He  dies  of  strangury 
and  such  evils.  Nationally,  we  must  do  the  same  thing." 

MR.  J. — "  Do  you  think  the  President  has  any  confidence  in  the  attain 
ment  of  independence?" 

MR..S. — "  lie  acts  as  if  he  had  not.  I  suspect  he  intends  to  imitate  the 
career  of  Sydney  Johnston.  That  is  the  way  I  read  some  of  his  conduct." 

One  of  Mr.  Stephens's  visitors  this  summer  was  Judge  James 
Thomas,  Linton's  father-in-law.  The  old  dog  Rio  had  spent 
several  months  with  the  judge  years  before,  while  his  master 
was  in  Washington  and  Linton  was  travelling  North,  and  had 
formed  a  great  attachment  for  that  worthy  gentleman.  Mr. 
Stephens  writes  about  him  : 

u  Rio  knew  Judge  Thomas  last  night :  barked  over  him  a  great  deal.  In 
the  night  he  left  my  room  and  went  down-stairs  to  the  judge's  ;  and  tried 
to  follow  him  off  when  he  left.  Last  night,  before  I  went  to  bed,  Rio  went 
up-stairs.  I  could  not  account  for  this  proceeding  until  Harry  told  me 
what  he  had  done  the  night  before.  Poor  old  dog!  I  suspect  he  thinks 
if  he  could  get  back  to  the  places  \vhere  he  used  to  be  with  the  judge, 
he  would  be  rejuvenated:  would  get  back  his  sight  and  hearing.  I  won 
der  if  this  is  so, — if  the  dog  ever  thinks  of  such  things?" 

Again  we  will  briefly  sum  up  the  military  operations  of  the 


416  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

latter  half  of  the  year,  by  way  of  a  key  to  any  allusions  in  the 
correspondence.  The  Federal  army  in  Virginia,  after  its  disas 
trous  defeats  in  the  Six  Days'  Fighting,  was  reorganized  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  General  Pope.  On  the  9th  of 
August  the  advance  of  this  force,  under  General  Banks,  was 
met  by  "  Stonewall"  Jackson  at  Cedar  Run  and  defeated. 
General  Lee  now  advanced  with  all  his  forces,  and  on  the  30th 
the  second  battle  of  Manassas  was  fought,  in  which  Pope  was 
routed  and  fell  back  upon  Washington.  The  Federal  loss  in 
men  and  munitions  of  war  was  enormous;  and  Pope  was  at 
once  superseded  by  McClellan. 

In  the  West,  General  Braxton  Bragg  had  undertaken  a  cam 
paign  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and  two  battles  were  fought, 
one  at  Richmond,  Kentucky,  in  which  the  Federals  were  defeated, 
and  one  at  Perryville,  October  7th,  in  which  Bragg  claimed  a 
victory,  but  retired  to  Murfreesboro',  Tennessee.  The  Federal 
General  Rosecrans  was  sent  to  supersede  Buell  as  chief  in  com 
mand  and  drive  Bragg  from  his  position.  On  the  31st  of  De 
cember  and  1st  of  January  a  great  battle  was  fought  between 
the  two  armies,  numbering  about  forty  thousand  each,  at  Mur- 
freesboro'.  The  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were  very  heavy, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  twenty-five  thousand.  Both 
sides  claimed  the  victory. 

In  the  mean  time  Lee,  with  the  Army  of  Virginia,  had  made 
a  movement  into  Maryland.  On  the  15th  of  September  Har 
per's  Ferry  was  taken  by  General  Jackson,  with  the  capture  of 
eleven  thousand  prisoners  and  seventy-three  pieces  of  artillery. 
On  the  17th  the  great  battle  of  Sharpsburg  was  fought  between 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  Federals  under  McClel 
lan  and  sixty  thousand  under  Lee,  without  decisive  results;  but 
McClellan  being  largely  reinforced,  Lee  retired  to  Virginia. 
On  the  22d  of  September,  President  Lincoln  issued  his  Emanci 
pation  Proclamation,  and  soon  after  General  McClellan  was 
superseded  by  General  Burnside  in  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac. 

Burnside  commenced  a  movement  upon  Richmond  by  the 
way  of  Fredericksburg,  where  there  was  a  battle  between  his 
forces  and  Lee's  on  December  13th,  resulting  in  a  brilliant 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IT.  STEPHENS.  417 

victory  for  the  Confederates,  with  a  loss  of  over  twelve  thousand 
men  to  the  Federals. 

We  have  seen  that  from  the  first  Mr.  Stephens  did  not  share 
the  popular  belief  that  the  European  powers,  or  some  of  them, 
would  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Southern  States,  even 
before  they  had  established  that  independence  by  force  of  arms. 
But  for  a  short  time,  during  this  summer,  he  was  disposed  to 
regard  an  early  foreign  recognition  as  probable.  It  was  there 
fore  with  more  cheerfulness  than  he  had  felt  for  some  time  that 
he  went  back  to  Richmond  on  the  reassembling  of  Congress  in 
August.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  writes  to  Linton  : 

August  17th. — u  I  have  heard  nothing  officially  since  I  have  been  here. 
I  called  to  see  the  President  yesterday  evening,  but  he  was  in  Cabinet 
meeting, — had  been  for  two  days.  I  could  see  none  of  the  Secretaries. 
...  I  am  now  looking  for  an  early  recognition  abroad, — {gay  by  the  1st 
of  October.  Still,  I  may  mistake/  The  North  seems  in  a  great  ferment. 
Something  will  come  of  this:  either  the  mellow  wine  of  reaction  and 
peace,  or  the  gall  of  a  more  determined  and  bitter  hostility.'' 

August  27th. — "  I  was  much  struck  by  your  views  on  the  tendency  of 
things  toward  the  merging  of  all  power  and  authority  in  the  hands  of  the 
military.  I  have  been  deeply  impressed  with  these  convictions  for  several 
weeks  past.  Mercer's  impressment  orders  without  the  shadow  of  authority, 
either  military  or  civil ;  Van  Dora's  orders  establishing  martial  law  in  parts 
of  Mississippi,  with  stringent  rules  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  and 
the  liberty  of  the  press;  and,  last  of  all,  Bragg1  s  order  establishing  mar 
tial  law  in  Atlanta  and  appointing  a  civil  (?)  governor  for  that  city,  with 
numerous  subordinates,  etc., — these  things  aroused  my  indignation,  and  I 
have  not  been  idle  in  attempting  to  arouse  our  members  of  Congress,  both 
in  the  Senate  and  House,  to  the  importance  of  arresting  these  proceedings. 
...  At  this  time,  I  am  glad  to  say,  a  reaction  is  in  active  progress  here. 
I  think  I  have  done  some  good.  I  first  called  on  the  Secretary  of  War 
about  Mercer's  orders,  and  upon  a  review  of  the  matter  he  telegraphed 
Mercer  that  he  must  not  resort  to  force.  ...  I  got  Mr.  Semmes,  the  most 
sensible  man  in  the  Senate,  to  introduce  a  resolution  there  requiring  the 
Judiciary  Committee  to  report  upon  these  questions.  That  Committee  is 
now  at  work,  and  matters  are  progressing  favorably.  I  have  got  Semmes 
to  agree  with  me  that  no  power  in  this  country  can  establish  martial  law ; 
neither  the  President,  nor  Congress,  much  less  a  general  in  the  field.  Con 
gress  may  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ;  but  that  is  the  utmost  ex 
tent  to  which  they  can  go.  A^TdTfieiTsome  nice  questions  arise  as  to  the 
effect  of  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus.  It  does  not  interfere,  in 
my  opinion,  with  the  regular  and  speedy  trial  to  which  the  party  is  en 
titled,  nor  with  his  full  redress  in  action  at  law  for  an  illegal  arrest,  against 

27 


418  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

the  party  making  it,  be  he  general  or  what  not.  All  arrests  are  at  the 
peril  of  the  party  making  them.  They  must  be  upon  oath  and  upon  prob 
able  cause.  I  have  pointed  out  six  plain  and  palpable  violations  of  the 
Constitution  in  these  military  orders.  I  am  unremitting  in  my  efforts,  in 
a  calm  and  dispassionate  manner,  to  get  Congress  to  awaken  to  the  heavy 
responsibility  resting  upon  them  at  this  crisis  to  save  our  constitutional 
liberties ;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  my  efforts  thus  far  have  met  with 
more  success  than  I  anticipated  when  I  saw  the  general  apathy  prevailing 
at  first.  The  truth  is,  I  believe  the  fault  of  our  people  to  which  you  allude, 
and  wrhich  I  saw  and  felt,  arose  from  an  excess  of  patriotism.  They  wanted 
to  do  all  that  was  proper  and  right  for  the  advancement  of  our  cause,  and 
were  not,  and  are  not,  sufficiently  watchful  of  great  vital  principles.  I 
hope  we  shall  come  out  right.  The  President,  I  am  informed,  has  written 

Xfoall  the  generals  revoking  these  orders  of  martial  law,  and  telling  them 

^-they  have  no  power  to  assume  such  authority^ 

"I  had  a  long  interview  with  the  Secretary  of  War  last  night  for  the 
first  time.  I  was  better  pleased  with  him  than  I  expected  to  be.  lie  is 
against  the  extension  of  the  [military  age  under  the]  Conscript  Act  to  the 
age  of  forty-five.  If  more  troops  should  be  wanted,  he  is  in  favor  of  call 
ing  on  the  Governors  of  the  States  in  the  first  instance.  lie  says,  however, 
and  truly,  I  think,  that  we  now  have  as  many  in  the  field  as  we  can  clothe, 
feed,  and  arm.  There  are  on  the  rolls  about  four  hundred  thousand.  He 
said  what  struck  him  with  surprise  was  that  the  President  had  not  con 
sulted  with  him  on  what  he  said  on  this  point  in  his  message,  and  he  did 
not  know  such  matter  was  in  the  message  until  after  it  was  sent  to  Congress.'' 
August  31st. — "  Nothing  has  yet  been  done  in  Congress  on  the  Martial 
Law,  Provost-Marshal,  and  Passport  systems,  or  the  usurpations  of  gen 
erals  in  passing  their  unlawful  orders  in  violation  of  the  Rules  and  Articles 
of  War,  wherein  is  established  the  military  law  of  the  country,  by  which 
officers  as  well  as  men  are  governed.  But  the  reaction  is  going  on.  We 
are  beginning  to  look  to  and  understand  it,  and  I  think  as  well  as  hope 
that  proper  action  will  be  taken  before  long.  It  is  strange  what  ignorance 
prevailed  on  this  subject,  and  how  little  the  representatives  of  the  people 
know  of  the  nature  of  the  Government  under  which  they  live.  This  gen 
eration  of  men,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  classes,  seems  to  have  lost 

X  all  sight  of  principles.  Born  and  reared  under  free  institutions,  they  seem 
never  to  have  understood  or  cared  to  understand  anything  about  them  any 
more  than  the  constituent  elements  of  the  air  they  breathe.  They  seem  to 
have  looked  upon  constitutional  government  as  a  matter  of  course,  without 
knowing  anything  of  its  original  cost,  its  constant  hazards,  and  the  only 
securities  for  its  perpetuation.  I  hope  they  will  be  brought  to  think  and  to 
act  before  it  is  too  late.  What  wre  most  need  nowr  is  wise,  well-informed, 
bold,  firm,  and  patriotic  legislation,  as  well  in  the  States  as  in  Congress.'* 
September  1st. — (To  11.  M.  J.)  "In  regard  to  our  prospects  in  general, 
I  can  only  say  that  I  can  see  no  approach  to  the  end.  I  did  think  some 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  419 

d.ays  ago  that  foreign  powers  would  offer  their  mediation, — England  and 
France  especially.  I  have  changed  that  opinion.  I  had  not  seen  the 
Queen's  speech  to  which  you  allude.  That  and  Palmerston's  since  the 
adjournment  of  Parliament  put  an  end  to  such  ideas.  England  and 
France  do  not  intend  ever  to  recognize  us,  I  think,  so  long  as  we  show 
ability  to  weaken,  cripple,  and  injure  the  Northern  Government.  I  am 
somewhat  in  doubt  whether  even  this  is  the  turning-point  with  them,  or 
whether  they  are  looking  for  the  extinction  of  slavery  first.  They  want 
the  final  separation  to  take  place,  and  they  want  slavery  abolished  also. 
They  may  think  that  the  North  can  uproot  the  institution  among  us  with 
out  being  able  to  subjugate  us  to  their  rule.  To  this  extent  they  may 
weaken  and  cripple  us,  while  we,  in  the  mean  time,  greatly  weaken  and 
cripple  them  by  the  wasting  of  their  resources  and  the  accumulation  of 
the  enormous  debt  attending  the  continuation  of  the  struggle. 

"  Were  I  the  President  I  should  forthwith  recall  all  my  Ministers  or 
Commissioners  abroad.  European  powers  look  upon  ^his  war  with  a 
complication  of  views,  if  I  may  so  express  myself. ("They  have  no  real 
sympathy  with  either  side.  Their  interests  prompt  tnemTto  side  with  us, 
but  the  feelings  prompted  by  these  interests  are  about  equally  balanced 
by  their  aversion  to  slavery,)  They  had  become  very  jealous  of  the  United 
States  Government  as  a  great  and  growing  power.  Its  example  as  a 
republican  government  was  becoming  dangerous  to  them.  They  there 
fore  rejoice  to  see  that  strife  now  raging  here  which,  if  left  alone,  will, 
in  their  judgment,  end  in  the  destruction  of  republicanism  on  both  sides 
of  the  line.  It  requires  no  statesmanship  to  see  that  the  North  is  already 
a  despotism,  complete  and  fearful.  The  powers  of  it  are  daily  becoming 
more  widely  displayed  and  more  intensely  felt,  Its  march  is  onward. 
Blood  will  soon  flow  there  as  it  did  in  France  under  the  Directory.  There 
will  never,  I  apprehend,  be  anything  like  constitutional  liberty  in  that 
country  again.  European  powers,  looking  to  the  history  of  the  world, 
doubtless  think  the  same  fate  is  in  store  for  us.  And  I  must  confess  the 
tendency  of  things  with  us  for  the  last  few  months  is  well  adapted  to 
stimulate  and  strengthen  such  speculations.  The  readiness  with  which  our 
people  surrender  most  important  and  essential  constitutional  rights  to  what 
for  the  moment  they  consider  the  necessity  of  the  case,  is  an  indication 
of  their  character.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  submission,  without  a  mur 
mur,  to  the  usurpations  of  commanding  generals  in  their  orders  of 
impressment,  establishing  martial  law,  appointing  provost-marshals  and 
governors  in  certain  localities,  etc.  All  such  orders  are  palpable  and 
dangerous  usurpations,  and  if  permitted  to  continue  will  end  in  military 
despotism.  Of  this  I  feel  as  certain  as  I  do  that  the  sun  will  go  down 
to-day  and  rise  to-morrow.  (There  is  nothing  that  has  given  me^  half  so 
much  concern  lately  as  these  same  military  orders  and  usurpations.^  Not 
the  fall  of  New  Orleans,  or  the  loss  of  the  Virginia.  Better,  in  my  judg 
ment,  that  Richmond  should  fall,  and  that  the  enemy's  armies  should 


420  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

sweep  our  whple  country  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Gulf,  than  that  our 
people  should  submissively  yield  obedience  to  one  of  these  edicts  of  our 
own  generals./!  do  not  mean  to  question  the  patriotism  with  which  they 
were  issuecTpthe  object  supposed  to  be  attainable  by  them,  nor  the  patriot 
ism  of  the  people  thus  far  in  yielding  to  them.  But,  my  dear  sir,  it  is 
the' principle  involved.  We  live  under  a  constitutional  government,  with 
clearly-defined  powers.  By  our  constitution,  the  law-making  power,  as 
well  for  the  army  as  for  the  citizen's  not  in  military  service,  is  vested  in 
Congress.  This  power  is  limited  even  in  their  hands.  Martial  law  sets 
at  defiance  the  Constitution  itself.  It  is  over  and  above  it.  It  is  directly 
against  its  most  important  prohibitions,  put  there  for  the  protection  of 
the  rights  of  the  people.  Congress  cannot  establish  martial  law.  No 
power  under  this  Government  can  do  it.  Congress  may  suspend  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  but  that  is  not  martial  law  by  any  means.  It  does  not 
interfere  with  the  redress  that  one  injured  by  an  illegal  arrest  may  have 
against  the  party  making  the  arrest.  It  does  not  authorize  anybody  to 
arrest  another,  except  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath.  It  does 
not  dispense  with  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  a  jury  under 
an  indictment  found  by  a  grand  jury.  It  does  not  authorize  any  infringe 
ment  of  the  liberty  of  the  press  or  the  freedom  of  speech.  These  great 
bulwarks  of  liberty  and  barriers  against  the  encroachments  of  power 
remain  untouched.  My  apprehensions  on  this  point  have  been  more 
thoroughly  aroused  from  the  fact  that  the  people  seem  willingly  and  even 
patriotically  to  be  yielding  to  usurpations.  They  do  not  consider  what 
they  are  doing.  They  do  not  recollect  that  the  price  of  liberty  is  eternal 
vigilance.  They  forget  that  the  first  encroachments  of  power  are  often 
under  the  most  specious  guises.  But  you  may  be  assured  that,  in  the 
forcible  language  of  De  Lolme,  'our  acts,  so  laudable  when  we  only  con 
sider  the  motive  of  them,  will  make  a  breach  at  which  tyranny  will  one 
day  enter.'  The  North  to-day  presents  the  spectacle  of  a  free  people 
having  gone  to  war  to  make  freemen  of  slaves,  while  all  they  have  as  yet 
attained  is  to  make  slaves  of  themselves.  We  should  take  care  and  be 
ever  watchful  lest  we  present  to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  a  like  free 
people  having  set  out  with  the  object  of  asserting  by  arms  the  correctness 
of  an  abstract  constitutional  principle,  and  losing  in  the  end  every  principle 
of  constitutional  liberty,  and  every  practical  security  of  personal  rights. 

11 1  have  not  time,  however,  to  continue  this  subject.  I  must  go  to  the 
Senate.  But  my  whole  soul  is  in  it,  and  I  am  laboring  day  and  night, 
in  season  and  out,  to  awaken  attention  to  the  dangers  that  threaten  us." 

September  7th. — (To  Linton.)  "  I  am  still  of  the  opinion  that  Congress, 
by  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  cannot  infringe  upon  the 
constitutional  guaranty  of  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  a  jury,  and  cannot 
give  indemnity  or  indemnify  against  the  right  of  a  citizen  unjustly  arrested, 
or  without  probable  cause,  against  the  party  who  may  have  made  such 
arrest.  In  England,  where  Parliament  is  considered  omnipotent,  such  acts 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  421 

of  indemnity  have  been  passed  where  abuses  of  power  have  taken  place 
under  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  But  no  such  power  is  delegated  to  our 
Congress ;  and  it  cannot  be  obtained,  I  think,  except  by  implication  from 
the  force  of  the  words  in  analogy  to  the  same  state  of  things  in  England, 
from  which  country  the  words  were  obtained.  It  may  be  argued  that  it 
must  have  been  intended  to  give  Congress  the  same  power  on  this  subject 
that  the  British  Parliament  has.  To  this  I  reply  that  such  construction  is 
inconsistent  with  another  express  provision  that  no  person  shall  be  arrested 
without  due  process  of  law,  and  that  Congress  shall  pass  no  law  abridging 
the  liberty  of  a  person,  the  freedom  of  speech,  etc.,  and  the  express  guar 
anty  to  all  for  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  a  jury,  etc.  The  suspension 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  therefore,  under  our  system,  can  only  operate 
to  hold  the  accused  and  secure  his  appearance  to  answer  the  charge.  It 
cannot  interfere  with  the  courts.  If  the  State  is  not  ready  in  every  case, 
Congress  can  regulate  the  grounds  upon  which  continuances  may  be 
granted.  They  should  be  wisely  and  judiciously  done,  locking  to  the 
public  interest  as  well  as  to  the  rights  of  the  citizen.  NL  am  utterly 
opposed  to  everything  looking  to  military  rule,  and  all  encroachments  of 
power  founded  upon  the  specious,  insidious,  and  dangerous  plea  of  neces 
sity^  It  ig  tne  tyrant's  plea.  Our  Constitution,  as  you  say,  was  made  for 
war  as  well  as  peace  ;  and  it  will  work  well  in  both  states  if  the  people  as 
well  as  their  rulers  will  but  understand  it  and  see  that  the  machinery  is 
kept  right.  The  indications  of  proper  action  on  these  questions  on  the 
part  of  Congress,  I  regret  to  say,  are  not  so  strong  as  they  were  some  ten 
days  ago.  Still,  I  think  something  will  be  done.  The  difficulty  is,  we  have 
not  the  men  in  Congress  to  do  it.  They  have  not  the  information.  They  are 
ignorant  of  principles, — lamentably  ignorant.  You  may  impress  an  idea 
upon  their  minds,  get  a  full  assent:  they  may  appear  to  see  clearly,  and, 
after  meeting  with  some  military  man  who  himself  has  no  knowledge  upon 
the  subject,  he  will  suggest  some  imaginary  case,  which  knocks  all  your 
reasoning  out  of  the  weak  head  which  once  thought  it  saw  the  truth.  The 
imaginary  case  is  easily  answered ;  but  the  whole  ground  has  to  be  gone 
over  with  these  children  in  politics  and  statesmanship." 

On  the  8th  of  September,  Mr.  Stephens  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Hon.  James  M.  Calhoun,  who  had  been  appointed  by  Gen 
eral  Bragg  "  civil  governor  of  Atlanta/7  and  who  desired  sonre 
enlightenment  as  to  his  powers  and  duties  in  this  anomalous  posi 
tion.  Mr.  Stephens  goes  over  the  ground  of  the  unconstitu 
tionally,  and  therefore  nullity,  of  martial  law : 

"  I  am  not  at  all  surprised,"  he  writes,  u  at  you  being  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  your  powers  and  duties  are  in  your  new  position,  and  your  inability 
to  find  anything  in  any  written  code  of  laws  to  enlighten  you  upon  them. 
The  truth  is,  your  office  is  unknown  to  the  law.  General  Bragg  had  no 


422  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS, 

more  authority  for  appointing  you  civil  governor  of  Atlanta  than  I  had ; 
and  I  had,  or  have,  no  more  authority  than  any  street-walker  in  your 
city.  .  .  . 

"  We  live  under  a  Constitution.  That  Constitution  was  made  for  war 
as  well  as  peace.  Under  that  Constitution  we  have  civil  laws  and  military 
laws :  laws  for  the  civil  authorities  and  laws  for  the  military.  The  first 
are  to  be  found  in  the  statutes  at  large,  and  the  latter  in  the  Rules  and 
Articles  of  War.  But  in  this  country  there  is  no  such  thing  as  martial  law, 
and  cannot  be  until  the  Constitution  is  set  aside,  if  such  an  evil  day  shall 
ever  come,  upon  us.  All  the  law-making  power  in  the  Confederate  States 
Government  is  vested  in  Congress.  But  Congress  cannot  declare  martial 
law,  which,  in  its  proper  sense,  is  nothing  but  an  abrogation  of  all  laws. 
If  Congress  cannot  do  it,  much  less  can  any  officer  of  the  Government, 
either  civil  or  military,  do  it  rightfully,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 
Congress  may,  in  certain  cases  specified,  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  cor 
pus;  but  this  by  no  means  interferes  with  the  administration  of  justice  so 
far  as  to  deprive  any  party  arrested  of  his  right  to  a  speedy  and  public 
trial  by  a  jury,  after  indictment,  etc.  It  does  not  lessen  or  weaken  the  right 
of  such  party  to  redress  for  an  illegal  arrest.  It  does  not  authorize  arrests 
except  upon  oath  or  affirmation  upon  probable  cause.  It  only  secures  the 
party  beyond  misadventure  to  appear  in  person  to  answer  the  charge, 
and  prevents  a  release  in  consequence  of  insufficiency  of  proof,  or  other 
like  grounds,  in  any  preliminary  inquiry  as  to  the  formality  or  legality  of 
his  arrest.  It  does  not  infringe  or  impair  his  other  constitutional  rights. 
These  Congress  cannot  impair  by  law.  The  constitutional  guarantees  are 
above  and  beyond  the  reach  or  power  of  Congress ;  and  much  more,  if  it 
could  be,  above  and  beyond  the  power  of  any  officer  of  the  Government. 
Your  appointment,  therefore,  in  my  opinion,  is  simply  a  nullity.  You,  by 
virtue  of  it,  possess  no  rightful  authority,  and  can  exercise  none.  The 
order  creating  you  civil  governor  of  Atlanta  was  a  most  palpable  usurpa 
tion.  I  speak  of  the  act  only  in  a  legal  and  constitutional  sense, — not  of 
the  motives  that  prompted  it.  But  a  wise  people,  jealous  of  their  rights, 
would  do  well  to  remember,  as  De  Lolme  so  well  expressed  it,  that  '  such 
acts,  so  laudable  when  we  only  consider  the  motive  of  them,  make  a 
breach  at  which  tyranny  will  one  day  enter'  if  quietly  submitted  to  too 
long. 

"Now,  then,  my  opinion  is,  if  any  one  be  brought  before  you  for  pun 
ishment  for  selling  liquor  to  a  soldier,  or  any  other  allegation,  where  there 
is  no  law  against  it,  no  law  passed  by  the  proper  law-making  power,  either 
State  or  Confederate,  and  where,  as  a  matter  of  course,  you  have  no  legal 
or  rightful  authority  to  punish  either  by  fine,  or  corporeally,  etc.,  you 
should  simply  make  this  response  to  the  one  who  brings  him  or  her,  as  the 
case  may  be,  that  you  have  no  jurisdiction  of  the  matter  complained  of. 

"  A  British  queen  (Anne)  was  once  urged  by  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to 
punish  one  of  her  officers  for  what  his  Majesty  considered  an  act  of  in- 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IT.  STEPHENS.  423 

dignity  to  his  ambassador  to  her  court,  though  the  officer  had  violated  no 
positive  law.  The  queen's  memorable  reply  was  that  'she  could  inflict 
no  punishment  upon  any,  the  meanest  of  her  subjects,  unless  warranted 
by  the  law  of  the  land.' 

"  This  is  an  example  you  might  well  imitate.  For  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  no  one  will  pretend  that  any  general  in  command  of  our  armies  could 
confer  upon  you  or  anybody  greater  power  than  the  ruling  sovereign  of 
England  possessed  in  like  cases  under  similar  circumstances.  The  case 
referred  to  in  England  gave  rise  to  a  change  of  the  law.  After  that  an 
act  was  passed  exempting  foreign  ministers  from  arrest.  So  with  us.  If 
the  proper  discipline  and  good  order  of  the  army  require  that  the  sale  of 
liquor  to  a  soldier  by  a  person  not  connected  with  the  army  should  be 
prohibited  (which  I  do  not  mean  to  question  in  the  slightest  degree),  let 
the  prohibition  be  declared  b}7  law,  passed  by  Congress,  with  the  pains 
and  penalties  for  a  violation  of  it,  with  the  mode  and  manner  of  trying 
the  offence  plainly  set  forth.  Until  this  is  done,  no  one  has  any  authority 
to  punish  in  such  cases ;  and  any  one  who  undertakes  to  do  it  is  a  tres 
passer  and  a  violator  of  the  law.  Soldiers  in  the  service,  as  well  as  the 
officers,  are  subject  to  the  Rules  and  Articles  of  War,  and  if  they  commit 
any  offence  known  to  the  military  code  therein  prescribed,  they  are  liable 
to  be  tried  and  punished  according  to  the  law  made  for  their  government. 
If  these  Rules  and  Articles  of  War,  or,  in  other  words,  if  the  military 
code  for  the  government  of  the  army  is  defective  in  any  respect,  it  ought 
to  be  amended  by  Congress.  There  alone  the  power  is  vested.  Neither 
generals  nor  provost-marshals  have  any  power  to  make,  alter,  or  modify 
laws  either  military  or  civil ;  nor  can  they  declare  what  shall  be  crimes, 
either  military  or  civil,  or  establish  any  tribunal  to  punish  what  they 
may  so  declare.  All  these  matters  belong  to  Congress ;  and  I  assure 
you,  in  my  opinion,  nothing  is  more  essential  to  the  maintenance  and 
preservation  of  constitutional  liberty  than  that  the  military  be  ever  kept 
subordinate  to  the  civil  authorities. 

"You  thus  have  my  views  hastily  but  pointedly  given. 

"  Yours  most  respectfully, 

"ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 

Mr.  Stephens  returned  to  Crawfordville  about  the  1st  of  Oc 
tober.  On  the  1st  of  November  he  addressed  a  meeting  called 
for  the  purpose  of  soliciting  contributions  in  money  or  kind  for 
providing  the  soldiers  from  Taliaferro  County  with  shoes  and 
clothing.  He  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  patriotism  and  sym 
pathy  of  his  audience,  dwelt  upon  the  rightful  ness  and  justice 
of  the  cause  of  the  South,  which  he  pronounced  a  war  "  for 
home,  for  firesides,  for  our  altars,  for  our  birthrights,  for  property, 
for  honor,  for  life, — in  a  word,  for  everything  for  which  freemen 


424  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

should  live,  and  for  which  all  deserving  to  be  freemen  should  be 
willing,  if  need  be,  to  die.'7  He  explained  the 'plan,  which  he 
had  urged  upon  the  Government,  of  making  the  cotton  the  basis 
of  a  system  of  finance. 

"I  was  in  favor  of  the  Government's  taking  all  the  cotton  that  would 
be  subscribed  for  eight  per*  cent,  bonds  at  a  rate  as  high  as  ten  cents  a 
pound.  Two  millions  of  bales  of  the  last  year's  crop  might  have  been 
counted  upon  as  certain  on  this  plan.  This  at  ten  cents,  with  bales  of  the 
average  commercial  weight,  would  have  cost  the  Government  one  hundred 
millions  of  bonds.  QVith  this  amount  of  cotton  in  hand  and  pledged,  any 
number,  short  of  fifty,  of  the  best  iron-clad  steamers  could  have  been  con- 
.tracted  for  and  built  in  Europe, — steamers  at  the  cost  of  two  millions 
each  could  be  procured.  , /Thirty  millions  would  have  got  fifteen  of  these, 
which  might  have  been  enough  for  our  purpose.  Five  might  have  been 
ready  by  the  1st  of  January  last  to  open  some  one  of  the  ports  blockaded 
,  on  our  coast.  Three  of  these  could  have  been  left  to  keep  the  port  open, 
and  two  could  have  convoyed  the  cotton  across  the  water,  if  necessary. 
Thus  the  debt  could  have  been  promptly  paid  with  cotton  at  a  much 
higher  price  than  it  cost,  and  a  channel  of  trade  kept  open  till  others, 
and  as  many  more  as  necessary,  might  have  been  built  and  paid  for  in  the 
same  way.  At  a  cost  of  less  than  one  month's  present  expenditure  of  our 
army,  our  coast  might  have  been  cleared.  Besides  this,  at  least  two  more 
millions  of  bales  of  the  old  crop  on  hand  might  have  been  counted  on  ; 
this,  with  the  other,  making  a  debt  in  round  numbers  to  the  planters  of 
two  hundred  million  dollars.  But  this  cotton,  held  in  Europe  until  its 
price  shall  be  fifty  cents  a  pound,  would  constitute  a  fund  of  at  least  one 
billion  dollars,  which  would  not  only  have  kept  our  finances  in  sound 
condition,  but  the  clear  profit  of  eight  hundred  million  dollars  would 
have  met  the  entire  expenses  of  the  war  for  years  to  come." 

Mr.  Stephens  still  advocated  this  policy  as  not  yet  too  late, 
and  exposed  the  fallacy  of  those  who  recommended  a  cessation 
of  cotton  culture  and  destruction  of  the  stock  on  hand  in  the 
hope  of  compelling  England  to  raise  the  blockade.  He  dis 
couraged  the  expectation  of  European  recognition,  and  exhorted 
to  firmness  and  fortitude  in  preserving  the  last  stronghold  of 
constitutional  liberty.  Addresses  of  similar  import  were  de- 
'^livered  at  various  points  in  Georgia. 

We  have  mentioned  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  work  Mr. 
Stephens's  generosity  in  assisting  young  persons  of  both  sexes 
to  obtain  an  education.  In  the  case  of  young  women,  the 
money  advanced  by  him  was  always  a  gift;  with  young  men, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  425 

it  was  understood  that  after  going  into  business  they  should 
repay  their  benefactor  his  advances,  whenever  able  to  do  so. 
These  beneficiaries  were  rarely  selected  from  among  the  children 
of  his  friends  or  acquaintance,  or  on  account  of  any  personal 
prepossession  in  their  favor.  Whenever  an  appeal  was  made  to 
him  on  behalf  of  a  youth  of  promise,  without  means  to  acquire 
an  education,  he  almost  invariably  responded.  His  friends, 
taking  into  consideration  the  somewhat  indifferent  success  of 
many  of  his  proteges,  and  the  report  that  but  few  of  them  had 
shown  any  gratitude  to  their  benefactor,  were  rather  of  opinion 
that  he  would  have  done  more  wisely  in  consulting  his  own 
preferences  in  making  the  selection.  This  point  was  touched 
upon  in  a  letter  to  him  from  R.  M.  J.,  in  which  also  he  was 
asked  for  some  account  of  his  beneficiaries ;  and  from  the 
answer  to  this  letter  we  make  the  following  extract : 

;'I  have  assisted  upwards  of  thirty  young  men  in  getting  an  education. 
About  a  third  of  these  I  have  taken  from  the  stump  and  put  through  col 
lege.  The  other  two-thirds  I  assisted  to  graduation,  but  most  of  them  at 
a  medical  college.  Out  of  the  whole  number  only  three  who  have  lived 
have  failed  to  refund  the  money.  The  three  I  have  alluded  to  are,  I  think, 
scamps,  except  perhaps  one.  One  who  refunded  I  think  is  a  scamp  also, 
though  he  is  a  preacher.  Nine  of  the  number  I  assisted  are  dead ;  five 
of  these  died  before  refunding :  two  died  while  at  school.  Only  four  of 
the  number  studied  law.  Six  are  preachers  :  four  Baptists,  one  Presby 
terian,  and  one  Methodist.  One  of  them  is  (or  was  when  last  heard  from) 
a  man  of  distinction  in  Tennessee,  a  professor  and  author.  Another  is  at 
the  head  of  a  high  school  in  Mississippi,  and  another  at  the  head  of  a  high 

school  in  Georgia.     Mr. ,  the  preacher,  is,  I  think,  a  shabby  fellow. 

lie  showed  some  ingratitude.  The  other  three  I  spoke  of  I  think  shabby, 
but  I  never  heard  of  any  ingratitude.  Take  the  whole  lot,  all  in  all,  I 
think  very  well  of  them.  The  per  centum  of  black  sheep  in  the  flock  is 
small :  not  more  than  one  in  twelve  or  thereabouts.  Of  the  number  I 
assisted  in  getting  medical  diplomas,  there  are  now  living  in  the  State 
six.  all  clever  physicians  of  good  standing.  Two  of  the  physicians  died 
some  years  ago." 

This  was  a  more  favorable  report  than  his  correspondent 
had  expected.  A  week  later,  Mr.  Stephens  again  referred  to 
the  same  subject. 

"  In  my  letter  a  few  days  ago  about  those  whom  I  had  assisted  in  getting 
an  education,  I  omitted  one  fact  which  ought  perhaps  to  have  been  stated. 


426  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Fourteen  of  the  number,  at  one  time,  or  some  time  after  quitting  school, 
became  teachers.  Several  of  them  are  still  teaching.  It  is  proper  also  to 
state  that  none  of  them,  that  I  am  aware  of.  was  ever  addicted  to  intem 
perance  except  one.  He  sometimes  drank  too  much  ;  but  he  abandoned 
liquor  entirely  before  he  died.  I  ought  to  say  also  that  the  four  I  spoke 
of  as  shabby  fellows  all  maintain  what  is  considered  respectable  positions 
in  society.  ...  A  great  majority  of  those  I  have  aided  have  done  good 
in  their  day  and  generation  in  their  quiet  spheres  of  life.  This  is  a  source 
of  great  gratification  to  me." 

Mr.  Stephens  has  continued  in  this  habit  of  aiding  indigent 
youth ;  and  the  number  of  those  whom  he  has  thus  helped  has 
amounted  at  the  time  of  this  writing  to  fifty-two. 

During  this  winter  Mr.  Stephens  and  H.  M.  J.  had  many 
conversations,  memoranda  of  which  were  occasionally  made. 
We  append  some  of  these  notes. 

Being  asked  on  what  terms  he  was  with  the  President,  he 
said: 

"  Very  good.  Whenever  we  meet  he  is  quite  cordial  and  agreeable. 
We  meet  but  seldom,  however,  lately.  He  used  to  send  for  me  often  to 
consult  with  me;  but  since  the  Government  has  been  removed  to  Rich 
mond  he  has  done  so  but  once.  What  caused  a  change  in  him  I  do  not 
know.  He  has  never  shown  any  change  in  his  bearing  when  I  called  to 
see  him."  .  .  . 

"  Are  he  and  Toombs  avowed  enemies?" 

"  By  no  means.  Toombs  treasures  resentment  against  no  one :  malice  has 
no  place  in  his  nature.  He  and  Davis  had,  as  you  know,  a  quarrel  on  the  Gas- 
kell  affair  some  years  ago.  Whether  there  is  any  remnant  of  this  in  the 
President's  mind  I  do  not  know,  and  do  not  think  there  is  any  in  Toombs' s. 
He  is,  however,  very  decidedly  hostile  to  many  things  in  the  conduct  and 
policy  of  the  war.  They  are  personally  on  good  terms.  I  think  the  Presi 
dent  thinks  very  highly  of  Toombs's  ability.  When  he  was  first  elected 
he  consulted  with  me  in  reference  to  offering  Toombs  a  place  in  his  Cabinet. 
I  advised  him  to  give  him  the  choice  of  places,  hoping  that  Toombs  would 
take  what  he  ought  to  have  taken,  the  Secretaryship  of  War ;  but  the 
President  replied  that  he  wished  to  pay  him  the  highest  compliment  by 
offering  him  the  highest  position,  which  he  did.  He  sent  the  offer  by  tele 
graph  to  Augusta,  where  Toombs  then  was  ;  and  Toombs  answered  declining 
the  position.  The  President  sent  this  answer  to  me.  Upon  consultation 
with  me,  he  sent  him  another  telegram. — the  terms  of  which  I  dictated, — 
urging  him  to  take  it.  Upon  his  return  to  Montgomery  he  decided  to 
accept  for  a  short  time.  They  were  on  the  best  of  terms,  I  think,  so  long 
as  Toombs  remained  in  the  Cabinet." 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  427 

Some  one  having  suggested  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  had  lately  been  purchasing  cotton,  as  if  he  were  taking 
Mr.  Stephens's  views  on  the  financial  question,  the  latter  re 
marked  : 

"  Yes.  He  has  entirely  abandoned  his  first  views  as  to  the  unconstitu 
tionally  of  the  measure,  and  is  now  buying,  as  I  sqe  by  the  newspapers. 
But  it  is  too  late  to  accomplish  the  good  that  might  have  been  attained  if 
the  policy  had  been  adopted  at  first.  I  was  very  much  surprised  a  few 
days  ago  at  getting  a  note  from  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
complimenting  my  speech  and  saying  that  it  was  the  ablest  effort  of  my 
life.  I  don't  agree  with  him  as  to  that ;  but  was  quite  surprised  at  getting 
such  a  note  from  him.  If  he  speaks  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary,  it  is 
very  significant." 

The  conversation  turning  upon  General  Lee,  Mr.  Stephens 
said  : 

"I  have  always  regarded  him  as  the  ablest  man  in  our  army;  indeed, 
the  first  military  man  on  the  continent.  I  have  always  placed  a  very  high 
estimate  upon  him;  not  only  as  a  general,  but  as  a  man,  from  my  first 
acquaintance  with  him.  ...  It  requires  a  rare  combination  of  qualities  to 
make  a  great  leader  of  armies. 

"  The  last  time  the  President  consulted  with  me  on  any  question,  it  was 
about  who  should  be  sent  to  command  at  Charleston.  I  urged  him  to  send 
Lee.  Lee  was  sent.  This  was  in  November,  1861.  The  President  thinks 
very  highly  of  his  abilities.  Yet  I  think  Lee  was  surprised  at  Sharpsburg. 
I  do  not  think  that  he  knew  the  enemy  were  pressing  so  close  on  his  rear 
after  he  went  over  into  Maryland.  Still  he  gained  the  fight,  and  I  think 
him  vastly  superior  to  McClellan,  or  any  other  one  on  the  board  at  pres 
ent,  except  J.  E.  Johnston,  who  perhaps  is  a  better  tactician  than  even 
Lee." 

One  of  the  company  remarked  that  there  seemed  to  be  a 
growing  sentiment  among  the  people  in  favor  of  a  strong  gov 
ernment,  and  that  the  experiment  of  self-government  by  the 
people  seemed  to  be  regarded  as  a  failure.  He  replied : 

"  I  do  not  think  so.  There  was  no  fault  in  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  The  difficulty  was  mainly  with  those  in  power  and  in  the  admin 
istration  of  it.  The  machinery  was  good  and  sound  :  it  was  from  the  bad 
working  of  it  that  the  miseries  came." 

"  But,"  it  was  insisted,  "  it  was  a  failure.  And  if  from  that  cause  the 
failure  is  more  certain  and  more  melancholy,  might  we  not  as  well  give  up 
the  question  ?" 

MR.  S. — "By  no  means.   /I  shall  never  be  willing  to  give  up  constitu- 


428  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

tional  liberty,  or  the  doctrine  that  the  people  can  easily  and  safely  govern 
themselves  upon  the  principles  upon  which  our  institutions  rest."")  In  our 
system  these  principles  rest  upon  the  rights  and  sovereignty  of  tHe  States. 
For  their  support  are  requisite  virtue,  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  con 
stancy  on  the  part  of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  When  I  see  the  ap 
parent  indifference  of  so  many  among  us  on  the  questions  involving  these 
essential  principles  of  our  liberties,  and  the  success  of  our  system,  I  must 
confess  I  have  fears  for  the  future.  Still,  I  am  far  from  giving  it  up.  I 
think  the  system  at  the  North  is  a  failure.  But  our  people  are  different. 
We  have  more  virtue,  and  by  far  more  political  intelligence  in  the  masses 
of  our  people  than  they  have.  The  great  body  of  our  people  are  honest, 
industrious,  frugal,  pure,  and  not  disposed  to  look  to  Government  for  any 
thing  but  wise  and  equal  laws.  In  other  words,  they  look  to  Government 
for  nothing  but  justice.  At  the  North  the  great  mass  look  to  Government 
as  a  means  for  living  by  their  wits  in  some  way.  Government  with  them 
is  a  license  to  rob  and  plunder  in  some  way  or  other ;  and  to  get  control 
of  Government  for  these  purposes  is  the  highest  object  of  their  ambition. 
The  people  there,  as  well  as  their  rulers,  have  been  corrupted  for  years, — 
at  least  a  large  portion  of  them,  if  not  the  majority.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  a  portion  of  our  people,  and  we  have  some  corrupt  leaders.  But 
the  great  majority  are  not  so.  They  understand  their  rights,  and  all  they 
want  of  rulers  is  to  give  them  good  government.  So  long  as  this  shall  pre 
dominate  I  shall  never  despair  of  the  principles  of  self-government  with 
our  people." 

The  conversation  turning  to  Mr.  Douglas,  Mr.  Stephens  said : 

"  I  expected  that  Douglas  would  oppose  the  settlement  of  the  Kansas 
difficulties  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  I  won  a  bet  on  that  from 
Governor  Cobb.  The  Free-Soil  men  had  been  promised  by  Governor 
Walker — who  told  them  that  he  spoke  for  one  higher  than  himself  [mean 
ing  President  Buchanan] — that  the  constitution  framed  should  be  sub 
mitted  to  the  people  for  their  ratification.  Acting  upon  that  promise,  they 
did  not  vote.  Douglas  was  willing  to  make  the  issue  on  that  first  election, 
but  the  Administration  refused  to  do  that,  and  so  refused  for  the  purpose 
of  ruining  Douglas  at  the  North.  As  the  issue  was  not  thus  made,  Doug 
las  refused  to  abide  by  the  first  election.  I  voted  purely  upon  the  legality 
of  that  election,  and  upon  its  being  right.  Mr.  Buchanan  had  given 
assurances  which  he  had  no  right  to  give ;  but  the  election  was  legal,  and 
the  result  gave  to  the  South  only  what  was  just  and  right.  Afterwards  I 
urged  both  Buchanan  and  Cobb  not  to  wage  war  upon  Douglas,  but  I 
could  exert  no  influence  upon  either." 

Speaking  of  secession,  he  said : 

"If  the  South  had  not  seceded,  Lincoln's  Administration  would  have 
broken  down  in  sixty  days.  He  was  utterly  powerless  to  do  harm." 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

The  Conscript  Law — Sir  Bingo  Binks — Lord  Lyons  and  Seward — Canine 
Nomenclature — Linton's  'Resolutions — Generals  Lee  and  Johnston — 
Death  of  Rio— A  Tribute  to  an  Old  Friend— Religion— Confederate  Bonds 
— Military  Operations — Exchange  of  Prisoners — Proposed  Mission  to 
"Washington — Speeches — Home  News. 

MR.  STEPPIENS'S  health  was  still  very  delicate,  and  about  the 
opening  of  the  new  year,  1863,  he  was  troubled  with  unusual 
symptoms.  He  employs  his  leisure  moments,  however,  in  read 
ing  the  "Waverley  novels,  on  which  he  passes  some  general  criti 
cisms  in  a  letter  to  Lin  ton.  We  find,  too,  in  his  correspondence 
frequent  allusions  to  the  smallpox,  which  was  spreading  in  a 
rather  alarming  manner;  disseminated  by  the  paper  money,  he 
thinks.  At  this  time  the  Conscription  Law  was  creating  con 
siderable  excitement,  and  we  have  his  views  on  the  subject  in 
the  following  letter: 

CrawfordmUe^  January  15th. —  .  .  .  u  I  send  you  in  this  the  decision  of 
our  Supreme  Court  on  the  constitutionality  of  the  Conscript  Laws.  I  think 
it  overshoots  the  whole  question.  The  authorities  cited  are  not  one  of  them 
to  the  point,  except  Monroe's  letter  and  Troup's  speech.  As  far  as  they 
are  authority,  they  are  to  the  point.  But  they,  like  the  decision,  rest  solely 
upon  assumptions.  The  more  this  question  is  sifted  and  discussed,  the 
more  I  am  satisfied  that  its  whole  merits  turn  upon  the  proper  meaning  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  word  '  militia.'  That  word  imports,  proprio  vigore, 
as  I  understand  it,  the  fighting  men  of  a  country  who  are  to  be  relied  upon, 
or  called  forth  by  any  sort  of  compulsory  process.  Our  old  Constitution 
contemplated  two  kinds  of  fighting  forces;  such  as  they  were  used  to, — 
such  as  England  had:  the  one  the  regular  army,  the  other  the  militia. 
The  power  in  the  twelfth  clause  refers  solely  to  the  former:  the  other 
clause  relates  to  the  latter.  And  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  under 
the  twelfth  clause  the  Government  was  to  have  the  same  power  which  in 
like  circumstances  the  government  of  England  had, — no  more.  Our  court 
seems  to  think  this  a  very  small  power.  The  truth  is,  it  is  a  very  great 
power  in  itself:  and  it  was  against  that  that  the  strong  declamations  were 
made  in  the  State  Conventions.  It  was  in  favor  of  that — that  alone — 

429 


430  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

that  Hamilton  and  Madison  spoke  and  wrote.  It  was  a  very  great  con 
cession  on  the  part  of  the  States  to  empower  the  Common  Government  to 
enlist,  raise,  or  hold  troops,  armies,  etc.,  and  support  them  at  the  common 
expense,  with  power  to  raise  the  funds  thus  to  support  them.  All  the 
authorities  cited  from  contemporaneous  history  by  the  court  refer  to  that 
point  only, — the  power  to  maintain  and  support  an  army  at  all  without 
the  consent  of  the  States.  This,  after  argument,  was  what  was  granted, 
and  nothing  more.  On  the  question  of  how  that  army  was  to  be  raised 
not  a  word  was  said,  because  no  one  dreamed  of  its  ever  being  raised  in 
any  but  the  old  time-honored  way,  by  voluntary  enlistment.  If,  as  you  so 
strongly  stated  in  your  speech,  it  gave  or  was  intended  to  give  unlimited 
power  as  to  the  mode  of  raising,  then  the  militia  clauses  were  useless  and 
nonsensical.  .  .  .  The  truth  is,  there  were  strong,  very  strong  objections 
against  even  empowering  the  General  Government  to  act  directly  on  the 
citizens  of  the  State  at  all.  The  opponents  specially  protested  against 
tax-gatherers  and  armed  men  to  sustain  them.  These  two  points  were 
more  opposed  perhaps  than  any  in  the  Convention.  Both  points  were 
carried  :  both  powers  were  delegated,  but  neither  was  delegated  unlimit- 
edly.  The  power  to  collect  revenue  is  closely  guarded  in  several  particu 
lars  ;  but  so  far  as  the  argument  of  our  court  goes,  that  is  just  as  unlimited 
as  the  other.  Such  a  rehash  of  old  Federal  doctrine  as  this  decision  pre 
sents  I  have  not  met  with  in  many  a  day.  If  its  principles  be  correct,  on 
what  ground  can  our  court  justify  our  present  position  towards  the  Federal 
Government?  It  must  be  a  rebellion.  The  constitutional  right  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  compel  the  services  of  the  entire  arms-bearing 
population  in  all  the  States  to  obey  the  behests  of  the  Washington  authori 
ties,  except  such  as  may  be  necessary  to  keep  up  the  functions  of  a  State 
Government,  is  clear,  according  to  the  doctrines  of  this  decision.  At  least 
it  so  seems  to  me.  This  inference,  however,  the  court  would  doubtless 
deny.  .  .  . 

"  I  see  Mr.  Gardner,  of  the  Constitutionalist,  has  opened  against  the  States 
assuming  the  Confederate  debt.  I  wrote  to  him  some  time  ago  on  this 
subject.  ...  I  see  he  has  used  my  ideas  very  freely, — in  many  instances 
my  very  language.  I  do  trust  this  great  folly  will  not  be  perpetrated. 
Memminger,  I  am  informed  from  Richmond,  is  in  favor  of  it.  I  suppose 
really  it  originated  with  him.  On  this  point  I  do  trust  Georgia  will  prove 
the  bulwark  of  our  safety.'' 

This  letter  further  illustrates  how  the  opposition  of  Mr. 
Stephens  to  the  policy  most  in  favor  at  Richmond,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  did  not  wish  to  assume  an  attitude  of  direct  hos 
tility  to  the  Administration,  left  him  no  choice  but  to  remain, 
as  far  as  possible,  retired  from  public  affairs,  except  when  im 
perative  duty  summoned  him. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS.  431 

January  18th. — Poor  Rio  being  now  in  the  last  stage  of 
senility  and  decrepitude,  Linton  has  presented  his  brother  with 
another  dog,  a  bull-terrier  pnp.  The  name  of  this  pup  is  a 
subject  of  considerable  deliberation  ;  and  Mr.  Stephens's  recent 
study  of  Scott  now  stands  him  in  good  stead. 

"  I  have  concluded  upon  reflection  that  the  dog's  name  shall  be  '  Sir  Bingo 
Binks,'  in  full.  I  will  not  do  the  illustrious  hero  the  indignity  of  quar 
tering  him  while  I  embalm  his  memory  by  giving  his  name  to  my  bull- 
terrier.  He  shall  have  the  whole  name,  title  and  all.  So  there  will  be 
plenty  of  room  for  nicknames. — Sir  Bingo,  Bing,  or  Binks,  as  may  best 
please  the  fancy.  .  .  . 

"  By  the  morning  train  I  got  the  President's  message.  It  is  decidedly  the 
best,  upon  theHvhole,  that  has  yet  emanated  from  him.  The  general  tone 
and  character  of  it  is  admirable.  I  do  not  like  his  recommendation  of  the 
States  guaranteeing  a  portion  of  the  common  or  Confederate  debt, — that  is 
decidedly  a  wrong  policy.  Nor  do  I  like  his  boast  about  the  working  of  the 
Conscript  Laws.  These  things  in  it  I  wish  were  out.  Still,  as  a  whole,  it 
has  fewer  faults  and  more  excellences  than  any  he  has  ever  before  made. 

"  I  have  been  wondering  with  myself  for  some  time  as  to  what  it  is  that 
has  caused  the  change  of  tone  in  the  leading  British  press  toward  us  and 
our  cause.  There  evidently  has  been  such  a  change.  This  time  last  year, 
before  that,  and  up  to  midsummer,  the  London  Times  and  other  papers 
were  more  friendly  to  us  than  they  have  been  since.  A  change  of  some 
sort  seems  to  have  come  o'er  the  spirit  of  their  dr.eam.  I  have  felt  it,  and, 
as  I  said,  have  been  trying  to  discover  the  cause.  The  conclusion  I  have 
corne  to  is  that  it  was  effected  by  Lord  Lyons.  I  suspect  that  was  the 
business  of  his  visit  home  last  summer;  the  change  corresponds  with  that 
time.  Lyons  is  an  abolitionist  of  the  Palmerston  and  Seward  school.  He 
had  been  in  this  country  or  at  Washington  only  a  short  time  before  seces 
sion,  lie  had  formed  but  few  acquaintances  with  Southern  men.  I  don't 
think  Toombs  had  ever  met  him.  I  know  he  had  no  intimacy  with  him. 
In  his  position  and  with  his  predilections  he  was  easily  duped  by  Seward, 
and  made  a  fit  instrument  to  effect  his  purposes  in  securing  the  favorable 
opinion  of  European  courts.  This  is  my  solution  of  the  matter.  Palmer 
ston  and  Seward  are  in  alliance ;  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  his  Ad 
ministration  is  overturned  soon.  Davis's  message  is  calculated  to  have  a 
better  effect  upon  our  foreign  relations,  both  with  the  United  States  and 
abroad,  than  anything  he  has  ever  before  said.  I  now  think  that  the  war 
will  break  down  in  a  twelvemonth  somewhere.  We  may  not  have  peace, 
but  we  shall  have  a  smash-up.  The  present  armies  cannot  be  sustained. 
Gold  is  going  up  rapidly  at  the  North.  If  we  can  stand  before  the  enemy 
and  hold  our  own  until  May,  a  large  part  of  the  Federal  army  will  go  out 
of  service, — three  hundred  thousand  of  those  called  for  in  August  last  were 
for  nine  months.  Meantime,  it  will  be  no  easy  matter  for  us  to  hold  on. 


432  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

Our  expenditures  are  enormous, — to  meet  them  we  have  nothing  as  yet 
but  the  new  issue  of  treasury-notes.  These  swell  the  currency  until  prices 
are  frightful, — expenditures  increasing  in  the  same  ratio.  Taxation  can 
not  itself  reduce  it.  Four  hundred  millions  are  now  required,  I  see  by 
the  Treasury  Report.  We  cannot  stand  a  tax  for  more  than  a  hundred  and 
twenty  millions, — that  would  be  very  heavy.  I  think  it  would  be  better 
to  tax  in  kind, — take  produce  and  army  supplies,  and  quit  issuing  treasury- 
notes.'' 

January  22d. — It  seems  a.  letter  from  Lin  ton  has  been  lost, 
which  he  "regrets  extremely,  as  I  should  have  been  pleased  to 
read  what  you  said  on  the  subject  of  naming  dogs,  and  especially 
what  yon  said  about  Scott  and  the  order  of  his  works," — on  which 
latter  topic  he  had  solicited  his  brother's  views  in  a  previous 
letter. 

..."  What  Davis  means  by  Lincoln's  proclamation  being  irrevocable, 
or  its  admitting  '  of  no  retraction,'  I  suppose  is  this :  it  is  not  in  its  nature 
executory,  as  his  first  one  was ;  it  is  not  menacing,  but  absolute  and  final 
action.  It  is  a  declaration  of  emancipation  absolutely  within  the  extent 
of  its  limits.  The  power  that  issued  it  is  forever  estopped  by  the  act  in 
opposing  or  changing  it.  It  is  like  a  pardon, — final,  absolute,  and  beyond 
retraction.  It  would,  I  think,  be  impossible  upon  any  public  principles, 
or  those  recognized  among  nations,  for  Lincoln  to  agree  to  any  terms  of 
peace  which  would  change  that  fact;  or  I  do  not  mean  exactly  that,  but 
I  mean  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  States  to  go  back  into  the  Union 
with  their  slaves.  He,  as  President,  could  not  hereafter  ignore  his  act, 
and  put  back  into  slavery  those  now  declared  free.  The  proclamation 
destroys  all  prospect  of  a  restored  Union  with  slavery  as  it  was. 
But  I  am  not  in  condition  to  express  myself  clearly,  and  I  will  quit.  My 
pen,  too,  is  abominable,  and  I  never  could  write  or  think  either  when  I 
am  trying  to  write  with  a  mean  pen." 

January  25th. — Sir  Bingo  seems  to  be  scarcely  more  polished 
or  dignified  in  manner  than  his  sponsor  in  St.  Ronan's  Well. 

"When  I  got  home  the  other  morning,  I  found  that  Sir  Bingo  Binks 
had  created  quite  a  stir  on  my  lot.  He  had  greatly  rumpled  Rio's  feelings 
by  his  rude  familiarity,  he  had  provoked  sundry  snaps  from  Troup  for 
biting  and  catching  at  his  legs,  which  had  greatly  alarmed  Ellen  [the 
chambermaid]  for  the  puppy's  safety,  the  more  so  as  she  laid  claim  to  him 
as  hers.  When  I  arrived,  I  found  Binks  after  the  chickens,  which  had 
brought  old  Mat  out,  greatly  disturbed  at  this  new  pest  in  her  poultry- 
yard.  She  was  driving  him  from  one  brood,  where  he  had  produced 
considerable  confusion,  but  the  mischievous  rascal  immediately  put  out 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  433 

after  another,  when  an  old  hen,  nothing  daunted  by  his  appearance,  flew 
upon  him  with  impetuous  fury,  which  turned  the  tide  of  war,  or  fun,  as 
the  case  happened  to  be  viewed  by  different  sides.  Binks  gave  a  squall, 
tucked  his  tail  and  fled,  much  to  old  Mat's  gratification.  Now  whether  the 
dog  perceived  this,  and  determined  upon  his  own  revenge  in  his  own  way, 
or  not,  I  cannot  undertake  to  say  ;  but  a  change  came  over  the  spirit  of 
his  humors.  He  broke  out  in  a  new  direction.  This  time  he  took  after 
old  Mat  herself,  caught  the  skirts  of  her  dress,  running  round  first  on  one 
side  and  then  the  other,  and  almost  tripping  her  up.  She  looked  to  me 
very  strongly  tempted  to  kick  or  stamp  the  insolent  whelp,  and  perhaps 
would  have  done  it  if  Binks's  good  fortune  had  not  come  to  his  timely 
relief  by  bringing  my  presence  on  the  ground.  I  was  surprised  to  see 
him  so  well  grown  and  sprightly.  By  supper-time  every  room,  corner, 
and  nook  of  the  house  into  which  he  could  find  entrance  was  explored, 
and  all  the  grounds  and  houses  round  about ;  even  under  the  kitchen  he 
had  found  his  way  in  pursuit  of  a  chicken,  and  there  he  found  a  place 
which  it  seems  suited  him  better  for  lodgings  than  any  he  elsewhere  dis 
covered.  To  this  place  soon  after  supper  he  betook  himself  for  the  night, 
and  no  calling  or  coaxing  was  effectual  in  getting  him  out.  It  was 
amusing  to  hear  the  different  names  that  were  given  him.  Frank  Bristow 
calls  him  '  Binger'  ;  the  parson  calls  him  '  Mingo'  ;  I  call  him  sometimes 
'  Sir  Bingo  Binks,'  but  usually  '  Binks'  ;  while  Anthony  gives  the  Dutch 
sound  of  the  B,  and  calls  him  '  Pinks.'  Old  Mat,  whether  from  spite  or 
not,  calls  him  'Minks';  while  Ellen,  Tim,  and  the  younger  fry,  seeing 
such  confusion  among  the  elders,  content  themselves  with  simply  styling 
him  the  '  puppy.'  So  he  is  likely  to  have  names  enough.  And  if  you 
think  there  is  really  anything  in  a  dog's  name,  I  should  like  to  have 
your  prognostications  in  this  case." 

Some  reference  having  been  made  to  Captain  Raphael  Semmes, 
of  the  Alabama,  Mr.  Stephens  writes  : 

"  I  was  quite  intimate  with  Captain  Semmes. — used  to  correspond  with 
him.  He  is  a  planter  in  Alabama  ;  never  quitted  the  navy,  however.  For 
several  years  before  secession  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Lighthouse  Board 
in  "Washington.  He  resigned  as  soon  as  Alabama  seceded,  though  he 
agreed  thoroughly  with  me  in  my  position  on  that  question,  as  his  letters 
to  me  show.  He  was  a  Douglas  man,  and  you  need  not  therefore  be 
surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  I  consider  him  a  very  sensible,  intelligent, 
and  gallant  man.  I  aided  him  in  getting  honorable  position  in  our  navy, 
and  in  getting  him  afloat  as  soon  as  possible,  which  he  greatly  desired. 
I  tried  my  best  to  get  Lieutenant  Graves  at  a  later  period — last  October — 
a  position  on  the  Florida,  which  lately  sailed  from  Mobile.  Graves  is  a 
gallant  fellow.  I  appointed  him  to  the  naval  school  at  Annapolis.  He 
is  at  present  on  duty  at  Fort  Morgan,  and  was  very  anxious  to  go  out  on 
this  new  steamer." 

28 


434  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

January  29th. — A  long,  chatty  letter,  beginning  with  remarks 
on  the  naming  of  dogs, — still  a  prominent  subject  in  his 
thoughts, — and  running  off  to  a  general  disquisition  on  the 
subject  of  humor,  with  special  reference  to  the  humor  of  Eras 
mus,  Plato,  Cicero,  Cervantes,  Scott,  Shakspeare,  and  Dickens. 
It  is  to  the  infusion  of  humor  into  their  deeper  thoughts,  he 
thinks,  that  all  those  works  which  are  destined  to  last  for  ages 
owe  their  immortality.  Finally,  he  calls  a  halt,  somewhat 
surprised  at  the  train  of  speculation  he  has  fallen  into, — "  all 
springing  indirectly  from  the  very  small  matter  of  giving  a 
name  to  a  puppy, — Bingo,  or  Sir  Bingo  Binks,  now  lying  fast 
asleep  on  the  rug  by  the  fire,  little  dreaming  what  combinations 
of  thoughts  he  has  set  a-going." 

January  29th. — Linton,  his  brother  John's  son,  has  just  left 
for  the  army,  to  join  the  "  Jo.  Thompson  Artillery"  as  a  vol 
unteer. 

"I  was  very  much  struck  with  Linton's  general  bearing  before  and  at 
the  time  of  his  departure,  lie  seemed  perfectly  calm  and  deliberate,  with 
out  any  excitement  one  way  or  the  other, — neither  elated  nor  depressed. 
.  .  .  Up  to  the  time  of  leave-taking  he  was  cheerful  as  usual,  not  the 
slightest  change  whatever  in  his  usual  manner ;  and  when  the  watches  in 
dicated  twenty  minutes  to  the  time  the  cars  were  due,  he  went  out.  rigged 
himself  up,  and  threw  around  him  that  double  thick  carpet-blanket  in  the 
library  which  I  had  before  told  him  to  take.  This  he  wore  as  a  sort  of 
shawl.  The  large  red  pattern  gave  it  a  fantastic  appearance,  very  much 
like  a  Mexican  blanket.  At  this  he  smiled,  as  all  looked  on  admiringly, 
said  it  was  very  comfortable,  and  bid  us  good-by  just  as  if  he  had  been 
going  home.  I  walked  out  with  him  to  the  steps  on  the  portico  toward 
the  church.  The  shawl  hung  low  down,  sweeping  the  ground,  Binks  fol 
lowed  and  seized  one  corner  of  it  in  play.  Linton  said,  laughing,  '  Let  go 
my  dress  !'  This  was  the  last  thing  I  heard  him  say.  He  seemed  to  have 
a  humorous  idea  that  he  was  habited  something  like  a  woman.  I  felt  sad  ; 
but  the  feeling  was  softened  by  the  cheerfulness  with  which  he  stepped  on 
board  the  bark  just  launching  him  upon  the  voyage  of  life.  1  suspect  his 
mother  is  now  lonely  in  feeling,  all  her  boys  who  have  been  with  her  so 
long  having  left  her  almost  at  once.  I  want  to  go  down  to  see  her."* 

He  then  comments  on  some  resolutions  which  Linton  pro 
posed  to  introduce  in  the  Legislature  on  the  subject  of  the  Con- 

*  Mrs.  John  Stephens  and  family  were  then  living  at  the  old  homestead. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  435 

script  Laws,  and  suggests  some  modifications.     For  the  seventh 
resolution  he  proposes  this  wording : 

"Resolved,  That  while  we  regard  the  said  Conscript  Acts  as  thus  violat 
ing  the  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  involving  principles 
dangerous  to  liberty  as  well  as  subversive  of  the  Sovereignty  of  the  States 
in  cases  that  may  arise ;  yet,  under  existing  circumstances,  we  waive  all 
opposition  to  their  present  execution,  reserving  to  ourselves  the  use  of  such 
remedies  as  may  be  demanded  by  any  future  emergency." 

This  he  thinks  the  better  way  to  put  it.  And  he  desires  that 
the  eighth  resolution  shall  provide  for  their  presentation  to  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  as  "  Georgia's  solemn  protest  against  the 
principles  and  policy  of  said  acts,"  but  "  omitting  the  allusion  to 
repeal."  Then  follows  a  rather  touching  mention  of  a  humble 
friend  who  had  just  died. 

"  I  saw  him  frequently  during  the  last  session  of  Congress.  He  used  to 
come  and  visit  me  when,  he  could  get  out  of  the  hospital.  He  seemed  to 
consider  me  as  kinsfolk,  and  acted  as  if  he  had  home-folks  to  go  to  see  and 
talk  with.  This  sort  of  feeling  is  a  great  relief  to  one  in  a  distant  land 
among  strangers,  especially  when  weak  and  sick." 

January  29th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "  I  do  not  think  much  of  the  demonstra 
tion  spoken  of  by  the  Democrats  in  the  Northwestern  States.  I  have  no 
idea  of  anything  like  armed  resistance  to  the  Lincoln  Administration  there  ; 
and  indeed  I  don't  put  much  faith  in  what  is  said  of  the  extent  of  the  dis 
affection  or  the  degree  to  which  it  has  gone  in  that  section.  It  is  very 
much  like  accounts  heralded  in  Northern  papers  of  the  disaffection  among  us. 
What  do  you  suppose  a  Yankee  paper  would  say  over  Governor  Brown's 
proclamation  about  bands  of  traitors  or  tories  in  our  State  that  require  the 
military  to  put  them  down  ?  Nothing  of  that  sort  has  occurred  in  any  part 
of  the  North  yet;  and  we  know,  or  ought  to  know,  how  little  confidence  is 
to  be  attached  to  it  from  what  we  see  among  ourselves.  The  great  major 
ity  of  the  masses,  both  North  and  South,  are  true  to  the  cause  of  their 
side,— no  doubt  about  that.  A  large  majority  on  both  sides  are  tired  of 
the  war ;  want  peace.  I  have  no  doubt  about  that.  But  as  we  do  not 
want  peace  without  independence,  so  they  do  not  Avant  peace  without 
union.  There  is  the  difficulty.  I  think  the  war  will  break  down  in  less 
than  a  twelvemonth :  but  I  really  do  not  see  in  that  any  prospect  for 
peace,  permanent  peace.  Peace  founded  upon  a  treaty  recognizing  our 
separate  independence  is  not  yet  in  sight  of  me." 

Februai~y  7th. — "  I  have  from  the  beginning  looked  upon  Lee  as  our 
ablest  general.  Before  the  Government  was  removed  to  Richmond,  and 
before  any  reputation  was  won  by  any  man  in  either  army,  except  by  Beau- 
regard -at  Charleston,  I  gave  it  frequently  as  my  opinion  that  Lee  was  our 


436  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

best  officer  and  McClellan  the  best  the  Yankees  had.  I  have  never  changed 
that  opinion  in  the  slightest  degree  from  that  day  to  this.  The  President 
always  thought  that  General  Albert  Sydney  Johnston  was  the  ablest  gen 
eral  on  the  continent.  This  I  have  heard  him  say,  or  its  equivalent.  I 
did  not  know  General  Johnston,  but  thought  highly  of  him  on  account  of 
the  President's  opinion,  until  he  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  army  awhile 
in  Kentucky.  I  then  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  President  was  mis 
taken  in  his  estimate  of  him,  and  that  conclusion  of  my  mind  has  not  been 
shaken  since,  not  even  by  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  General  Joseph  E.  Johns 
ton  is,  I  think,  General  Sydney  Johnston's  superior.  In  some  things  I 
think  he  is  Lee's  superior,  or  has  some  qualities  essential  for  a  general  in 
a  superior  degree  5  but  he  lacks  others  which  Lee  possesses.  So,  taken  on 
the  whole,  he  is,  in  my  judgment,  Lee's  inferior.  I  regard  Lee  as  one  of 
the  first  men  I  ever  met.  I  was  wonderfully  taken  with  him  in  our  first 
interview.  I  saw  him  put  to  the  test  which  tries  the  metal  of  character. — 
the  stuff  that  a  man  is  made  of^lle  came  out  of  the  crucible  pure  and 
refined  gold,  so  far  as  integrity  and  patriotism  are  concerned." 

February  8th. — He  is  rather  indignant  at  the  views  of  the 
Conscript  Act  and  its  constitutionality  recently  propounded  by 
certain  public  men. 

"  In  my  opinion  the  power  to  raise  armies  delegated  to  Congress  is  pre 
cisely  the  power  given  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  any  person  he  may 
select  '  to  raise  a  regiment.'  Nothing  more  and  nothing  less.  Suppose 
such  authority  given,  as  it  has  often  been  done,  'with  full  power  to  raise 
a  regiment;'  would  anybody  in  this  day,  in  this  country,  ever  dream  that 
such  an  agent  had  power  to  impress  freemen  into  his  corps?  An  attempt 
to  do  so  would  excite  wonder  as  well  as  indignation  ;  but  not  a  whit  more, 
in  my  opinion,  than  would  have  been  excited  in  the  Convention  that  formed 
the  Constitution  in  1787,  if  it  had  been  told  them  that  their  agent,  Congress, 
under  this  clause  would  attempt  that  thing. 

..."  There  are  two  ways  of  levying  troops :  one  by  enlistment,  the 
other  by  compulsion.  Congress  has  power  to  raise  a  levy  in  both  wavs, — 
no  doubt  about  that. — with  a  qualification,  however,  in  the  latter  mode. 
The  power  in  the  first  clause  to.  raise  extends  only  to  the  former  mode. 
The  following  clause  relates  only  to  the  subject  how  troops  are  to  be 
ordered  into  service  when  necessary.  For  the  power  to  provide  for  calling 
out  the  militia  means  nothing  more  than  the  power  to  order  out  or  compel 
those  to  go  into  service  who  are  able  to  go  and  who  will  not  go  without 
the  call,  the  order,  or  the  compulsion.  All  those  who  stand  in  this  class 
are  militia,  whether  organized  or  not,  ex  m  iermini,  though  they  are  to  be 
organized  before  they  are  called  out.  This  is  what  Congress  has  power 
to  provide  for  by  law :  to  have  that  class  of  people  put  into  companies, 
regiments,  etc.,  and  trained  ready  to  be  i  called  out,'  'ordered  out,'  or 
'compelled'  to  go  out  when  required." 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  437 

u  March  8th. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  '\If  our  Congress  will  not  do  something, 
and  that  speedily,  to  sustain  our  finances,  the  break-down  will  be  on  our 
own  side)  Our  credit  is  suffering  greatly.  Nothing  will  save  it  but  im- 
mediate4axation,  and  high  taxation  at  that.  Lincoln  is  no  more  a  dictator 
now  than  he  has  been  all  the  time ;  and  as  for  the  Herald,  I  am  not  sur 
prised  at  anything  in  it.  It  is  a  mercenary  sheet,  and  utterly  destitute 
of  any  principle  whatever,  either  moral,  social,  or  political.  The  Yankee 
Conscript  Law  was  what  I  was  apprehensive  they  would  adopt.  Its  main 
object  is  to  retain  in  the  service  those  whose  terms  were  about  to  expire. 
I  don't  think  Lincoln  will  call  out  a  great  many  more  troops.  lie  will 
keep  his  army  at  about  a  million  strong.  I  have  been  expecting  our 
recognition  by  Napoleon  early  in  the  spring.  One  or  two  items  of  news 
from  Northern  papers  within  the  last  ten  days  tend  to  check  this  expecta 
tion.  These  are  the  correspondence  which  has  come  to  light  between 
Secretary  Seward  and  the  Mexican  Minister  at  Washington.  From  this 
it  is  clearly  seen  that  Seward  is  currying  favor  with  Napoleon  by  afford 
ing  indirect  aid  in  his  Mexican  War.  That  war  he  must  feel  a  deep  in 
terest  in,  and  such  favor  as  the  Washington  Government  may  show  him 
will  go  a  long  way  in  keeping  him  from  making  it  his  enemy.  Again,  I 
see  it  stated  that  Lincoln  has  been  closeted  with  Mercier  at  Washington. 
There  is  no  foundation  for  the  assertion  in  our  papers  that  Seward  had 
given  the  lie  direct  to  Mercier's  statement  touching  his  visit  last  year  to 
Richmond.  I  have  read  Mercier's  letter  and  Seward's ;  there  is  no  con 
tradiction  in  them." 

March  19th. — He  has  just  returned  from  Washington  (Geor 
gia),  where  he  has  been  to  see  General  Toombs,  who  is  very 
sick.  He  has  other  sad  news  to  tell,  of  the  loss  of  a  faithful 
friend : 

"  It  is  all  over  with  poor  old  Rio  !  He  died  soon  after  I  left  the  house 
for  the  cars  on  Monday.  I  left  him  in  the  passage  between  the  library 
and  the  main  building.  He  was  very  quiet  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  sleep. 
I  took  a  last  look  at  him,  for  I  never  expected  to  see  him  again.  After  I 
got  out  of  the  gate  near  the  academy,  I  heard  him  bark  loud  and  repeat 
edly,  just  as  he  used  to  bark  when  I  left  home.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he 
knew  I  had  gone.  I  verily  believe  he  did,— by  what  strange  instinct  I 
cannot  say.  I  told  Anthony,  who  was  with  me,  to  go  back  and  be  with 
him,  and  keep  him  from  falling  out  at  the  door,  and  to  take  care  of  him. 
Before  the  cars  left  the  depot,  Harry  sent  word  to  me  that  he  was  dead. 

''Anthony  says  that  after  he  stopped  barking  he  got  up  and  staggered 
into  the  library  and  went  towards  my  room.  His  strength  failed  just  at 
my  room  door;  then  he  fell  and  died  without  any  struggle  or  evidence  of 
suffering.  I  had  given  orders  about  his  burial  before  I  left. — these  were 
followed.  He  lay  in  the  library  all  night,  in  the  position  in  which  he 


438  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

usually  slept,  with  his  face  on  his  fore-feet.  Next  day  he  was  put  into  a 
box  or  coffin  made  by  George,  and  buried  in  the  garden,  between  the  rock- 
pile  and  the  palings.  lie  was  placed  in  the  coffin  as  he  lay. 

"It  is  just  two  weeks  this  evening  since  he  and  I  took  our  last  evening 
walk.  That  night  he  had  a  cough  and  seemed  unwell  ;  next  day  he  was 
worse.  The  last  two  days  he  did  not  seem  to  suffer  so  much  as  he  did  two 
or  three  days  before,  but  slept  quietly  most  of  the  time. 

"  He  was  a  remarkable  dog, — most  devoted  in  his  attachment  to  me :  and 
I  do  heartily  sorrow  and  grieve  for  him.  After  his  afflictions,  when  he 
was  deaf  and  blind,  it  Avas  a  source  of  melancholy  pleasure  to  me  to  lead 
and  direct  him  about,  and  think  of  his  acts  in  his  better  days ;  and  now 
the  remembrance  of  these  walks  with  him  in  his  infirmities  awakens 
associations  of  as  much  interest  as  any  connected  with  his  whole  life.  .  .  . 

"  The  world  will  never  see  another  Rio.  And  few  dogs  ever  had.  or 
ever  will  have,  such  a  master.  Over  his  grave  I  shed  a  tear,  as  I  did  over 
him  frequently  as  I  saw  nature  failing." 

March  %Oth.—(To  R.  M.  J.)  After  speaking  of  a  visit  he 
had  just  made  to  General  Toombs,  he  tells  of  the  death  of  poor 
Rio.  He  recounts  the  details  that  have  been  already  given,  and 
thus  concludes : 

"  I  shed  tears  at  his  grave  yesterday,  and  feel  as  if  I  shall  shed  many 
more  for  him  before  he  passes  from  my  memory.  The  infirmities  of  his 
old  age  rather  increased  than  lessened  my  attachment  to  him.  His  devo 
tion  to  me  was,  I  believe,  stronger  than  life.  For  nearly  thirteen  years 
he  has  been  my  constant  companion,  day  and  night,  when  I  have  been  at 
home,  and  until  he  became  blind  a  few  years  ago,  he  always  attended  me 
wherever  I  went,  except  to  Washington  City.  You  may  well  imagine  then 
how  I  miss  him !  Miss  him  in  the  yard,  in  the  house,  in  my  walks ;  for, 
though  blind,  he  used  to  follow  me  about  the  lot  wherever  I  went.  When 
I  was  reading  or  writing  he  was  always  at  my  feet.  At  night,  too,  his 
bed  was  the  foot  of  my  own.  His  beautiful  white  thick  coat  of  wool  was 
soft  as  silk.  But  you  know  him  and  need  no  description.<J[Ie  is  gone. 
You,  nor  I,  nor  any  one  will  ever  see  his  like  again>>  Who  that  knew  him 
as  I  did  could  refrain  from  shedding  a  tear  for  Rio?" 

March  29th. — Heavy  and  continued  rains  interfere  with  farm 
operations. 

"  This  is  a  dull  and  gloomy  day, — well  adapted  in  my  loneliness  to  in 
crease  that  sadness  which  your  last  two  letters  produced ;  but  I  have  long 
since  learned  not  to  indulge  such  feelings.  They  always  increase  as  they 
are  nurtured.  ...  I  have  much  to  make  me  melancholy  :  indeed,  I  should 
have  been  a  victim  of  melancholy  long  ago  if  I  had  not  resisted  it  with 
all  my  might.  I  now  feel  as  i£  I  had  conquered  in  the  conflict.  It  was 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  439 

not,  however,  without  great  danger  from  another  source  which  I  perceived 
and  had  to  guard  and  strive  against  with  equal  vigilance  and  energy, — 
that  was  misanthropy.  These  have  been  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  in  my 
life.  Melancholy  and  misanthropy, — the  rocks  and  the  whirlpool.  I  have, 
I  think,  escaped  both.  This  I  do  not  think  I  have  accomplished  by  myself: 
I  feel  within  that  I  have  been  sustained  by  an  unseen  power  on  whom  I 
have  relied  and  to  whom  I  have  locked  in  my  worst  trials,  even  in  the 
darkest  hours,  with  hope  and  assurance  that  all  would  be  well  under  His 
guidance  and  protection.  I  do  not  feel  justified  before  Him  ;  but  I  do 
feel  that  with  his  long-suffering  and  loving-kindness  my  frailties  will  be 
graciously  pardoned,  my  weakness  strengthened,  and  patience  and  forti 
tude  imparted  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  bear  all  the  ills  of  this  life,  and 
that  by  discharging  rny  duties  fully  and  to  the  best  of  my  ability  during 
this  probationary  existence,  I  shall  be  fitted  for  that  higher  sphere  here 
after,  where  there  will  be  no  more  pain  and  no  more  suffering,  no  more 
trouble  and  no  more  sin.  These  are  the  principles  and  convictions  on 
which  I  act.  I  have  for  years  made  it  my  business  to  devote  a  portion  of 
each  day  to  prayer — in  communing  with  this  unseen,  all-pervading  Power 
— with  God.  I  was  in  early  life  deeply  impressed  with  what  is  called 
religious  feeling ;  but  after  I  grew  up  and  entered  the  world  these  feelings 
greatly  subsided.  I  at  one  time  became  skeptical,  callous.  The  world 
was  a  mystery :  I  could  see  nothing  good  in  it.  I  was  miserable,  and  that 
continually.  But  coming  to  the  conclusion,  after  a  close  self-examination, 
that  the  error  might  be  in  myself,  I  determined  to  adopt  a  new  line  of 
policy  for  my  conduct.  jf-TRe  first  resolution  was  to  cease  finding  fault 
with,  or  thinking  about,  >rh at  I  could  not  understand.  The  second  was 
to  nurture  and  cultivate  assiduously  the  kindlier  affections  of  the  heart, 
and  with  this  every  day,  at  some  hour,  to  put  myself  in  communion  with 
God  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  asking  Him  to  aid,  assist,  direct,  and  pro 
tect  me  in  doing  right. 

"  The  effect  of  this  upon  my  mind  and  feelings,  and  general  views  of 
things,  was  soon  felt  by  me.  The  exercise  which  at  first  seemed  meaning 
less  and  senseless,  soon  appeared  to  bring  a  certain  inexplicable  satisfaction 
to  the  spirit.  The  earlier  impressions  of  life  soon  revived.  I  felt  a  better 
— a  much  more  contented  and  happier  man.  The  feeling  grew  with  its 
culture, — it  softened  the  temper,  awakened  deeper  emotions  of  reverence, 
gratitude,  and  love.  It  gave  consolation  in  grief,  strength  in  resisting 
temptation.  It  impressed  the  mind  with  man's  weakness  and  frailties, 
and  his  dependence  on  God.  It  seemed  to  elevate  the  soul  and  put  it  in 
unison  with  its  Maker.  This  is  what  sustains  me. 

"Such  is  the  character  of  my  religion.  I  make  no  boast  of  it;  and 
perhaps  very  few  people  who  know  me  have  any  idea  of  its  existence,  even 

to  this  extent.  For  I  heard  last  year  that had  expressed  the  opinion 

that  I  was  an  unbeliever ;  and  some  years  ago  Toombs  told  me  that  a 
gentleman  whom  I  will  not  name — now  dead — said  in  speaking  of  me 


440  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS. 

that  I  was  an  infidel — or  atheist,  I  forget  which.  These  opinions  produced 
but  one  effect  on  me,  and  that  was  the  rather  painful  reflection  that  I  had 
perhaps  not  set  the  world  such  an  example  of  the  real  faith  that  was  in 
me,  as  I  ought  to  have  done.  But  I  have  always  had  such  an  aversion 
to  what  I  consider  the  cant  of  religion,  that  I  have  been  rather  inclined 
to  suppress  than  to  exhibit  to  others  what  I  really  think  and  feel  in  such 
matters.  So  far  as  it  concerns  the  world's  judgment  in  my  case,  it  must 
look  to  my  acts  and  conduct. 

"  I  must  ask  pardon  from  even  you  for  what  I  have  said  in  this  digres 
sion  on  the  subject.  I  only  meant  briefly  to  say  a  few  things  about  that 
inward,  and  I  believe  spiritual,  Power  that  sustains  me  in  hours  of  doubt 
and  darkness,  as  well  as  in  periods  of  sunshine  and  good  fortune,  and  to 
assure  you  that  my  life,  upon  the  whole,  for  many  years,  has  not  been  an 
unhappy  one.  ...  I  can  say  no  more  now.  Indeed,  I  have  said  a  great 
deal  more  than  I  intended.  I  have  never  before  said,  even  to  you,  so  much 
about  some  of  my  heart's  secrets.  May  God  be  with  you,  sustain  you, 
guide  you,  and  protect  you  !" 

March  29th. — (To  11.  M.  J.)  "  So  soon  as  the  spring  opens,  I  expect  to 
go  on  to  Richmond.  I  am  in  lower  spirits  than  usual.  The  signs  of  the 
times  are  dark  and  gloomy  to  me :  darker  and  gloomier  than  they  ever  have 
been  here,  except  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1860,  when  I  saw  por 
tended  so  clearly  all  the  troubles  we  now  have  upon  us,  and  those  still 
worse  which  I  fear  are  ahead  of  us.  .  .  . 

"  Our  country  is  in  a  sad  condition  :  worse  than  the  people  are  at  all 
aware  of.  It  is  painful  to  me  to  look  towards  the  future.  I  shrink  from 
it  as  from  a  frightful  gulf  towards  which  we  are  rapidly  tending.  This  is 
a  general  fast-day,  dedicated  to  humiliation  and  prayer, — most  appropriate 
duties.  .  .  . 

"My  motto  is  patience,  fortitude,  and  duty,  at  all  times  and  under  all 
circumstances.  The  world  and  its  events  are  beyond  my  control :  all  I  can 
do  is  to  perform  my  part  faithfully  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  with  the  firm 
conviction  that  all  in  the  end  will  be  right,  whether  it  is  as  I  wish  it  or 
not." 

April  %d. — He  has  received  a  letter  from  Linton  touching 
upon  religious  matters,  and  takes  up  again  his  former  train  of 
thought.  Then  continues : 

"I  spent  three  pleasant  days  and  nights  down  at  my  homestead  place. 
Did  a  great  deal  of  work,  and  have  had  a  great  deal  done  which  I  think 
will  be  useful,  mostly  in  hill-side  ditching  to  save  the  old  hills  over  which 
I  wandered  and  worked  when  a  boy.  My  mind  all  the  time  was  filled 
with  recollections  of  my  earliest  youth. 

"I  was  entertained  at  night  with  Andy .  He  is  a  smart  little  fellow 

and  says  some  rare  things.  The  other  night  his  mother  was  washing  him 
for  bed,  and,  as  usual  with  children,  he  cried  under  the  operation,  and  told 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  441 

his  mother  not  to  put  her  finger  so  deep  into  '  the  mud-holes  of  his  ears.' 
The  deep  recesses  of  those  organs  he  called  '  the  mud-holes,'  and  the  other- 
parts  '  the  gullies'  of  his  ears." 

April  3d. —  .  .  .  "  I  do  hope  our  State  will  not  endorse  the  Confederate 
bonds;  but  I  see  A.  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  bill  for  this  purpose 
will  pass  by  a  large  majority.  It  will  be  a  great  error  and  blunder  if  it 
is  done  5  and  those  who  vote  for  it  will  rue  it  if  they  live.  The  whole 
scheme  is  radically  wrong  in  purpose.  The  responsibility  of  creating  debt, 
and  paying  it,  or  providing  for  its  payment,  ought  to  rest  on  the  same 
shoulders.  No  possible  good  can  result  from  the  measure.  For  the  power 
to  tax  is  plenary  in  the  Confederate  Government, — State  endorsement  can 
not  add  a  particle  to  the  credit  of  the  bonds  in  case  of  success  in  estab 
lishing  independence.  No  good  then  can  possibly  come  of  it;  but  much 
mischief  may.  For  if  Congress  has  let  its  credit  run  by  appropriating 
without  the  nerve  to  tax,  what  will  they  not  do  when  they  are  relieved 
from  that  responsibility,  or  imagine  themselves  relieved,  and  turned  loose 
to  spend  without  limit?  Many  do  not  understand  this  matter:  they  do 
not  consider  that  if  Congress  does  not  pay  the  interest  on  these  bonds,  say 
next  year,  that  the  State  will  have  to  tax  the  citizens  to  meet  this  payment. 
The  debt  now  is  not  much  short  of  one  thousand  millions.  Georgia's  part 
of  this  would  be,  in  round  numbers,  about  one  hundred  millions.  The 
annual  interest  on  this  will  be,  in  round  numbers,  about  eight  millions. 
Are  these  people  who  will  vote  for  this  bill  of  endorsement  ready  to  vote 
this  annual  tax  on  their  constituents?  The  truth  is.  they  are  not,  and 
will  not  do  it.  Why,  then,  should  they  say  they  will?  Why  give  the 
pledge?  They  unwisely  think  they  nor  their  successors  will  never  be 
called  on  to  redeem  it.  In  this  they  are  sadly  mistaken.  I  feel  deeply 
upon  the  subject.  It  is  utterly  wrong,  and  the  worst  consequences  will 
follow  the  policy,  if  adopted.'' 

April  7th. — Has  been  to  see  General  Toombs,  who  is  recover 
ing,  and  speaks  with  much  gratification  of  the  mental  vigor  he 
displays.  Thinks  it  desirable  that  General  T.  shall  go  into  the 
House,  as  he  refuses  to  be  a  candidate  for  Governor. 

"  I  am  not  without  hope  that  the  endorsement  matter  will  fail  in  our 
Legislature.  I  am  beginning  to  think  that  our  President  is  aiming  at  the 
obtainment  of  power  inconsistent  with  public  liberty.  I  wrote  to  Mr. 

G last  week  that  if  the  views  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  were  adopted 

by  the  people,  we  should  be  lost  and  ruined  forever.  Still,  I  am  not  with 
out  hope  that  the  people,  with  proper  counselling  and  rallying,  will  check 
any  such  schemes.  I  was  put  greatly  in  hopes  on  this  point  from  the  man 
ner  in  which  General  Toombs  talked.  But  in  all  things  I  do  not  permit 
myself  to  despair.  I  am  determined  to  do  my  duty,  and  leave  consequences 
to  the  Great  Disposer  of  events,  feeling  assured  that  all  will  be  right.<CX_ 
may  not  see  it,  but  it  will  be  right. 


442  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Richmond,  May  1st. — Refers  to  rumors  of  a  great  fight  going 
on  at  Fredericksbnrg.  This  was  the  great  four  days'  fighting 
between  Hooker  and  Lee;  Hooker  with  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  thousand  men,  well  drilled  and  equipped,  and  Lee  with 
about  fifty  thousand  effective  strength.  Hooker  Avas  met  and 
foiled  at  every  point,  and  finally  driven  back.  From  the  point 
where  the  combat  was  most  severe  this  has  generally  been  called 
the  Battle  of  Chancellorsville.  But  it  cost  the  Confederacy 
dearly  in  the  irreparable  loss  of  "  Stonewall"  Jackson,  fatally 
wounded  by  a  shot  fired  in  mistake  by  his  own  men. 

In  this  note  Mr.  Stephens  expresses  himself  as  much  gratified 
by  the  friendly  way  in  which  he  was  received  by  the  members 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress. 

Richmond,  June  26th. — Lee  had  now  started  on  his  movement 
into  Pennsylvania,  and  had  crossed  the  Potomac  the  day  before, 
Hooker  following  him.  There  was  much  excitement  in  Rich 
mond,  as  the  enemy  was  making  another  "  demonstration"  on 
that  city.  Mr.  Stephens  had  been  home  on  a  brief  visit,  and 
had  been  summoned  to  the  capital  by  a  telegram  from  the 
President,  but  at  the  time  of  writing  had  not  yet  seen  him. 

"  I  learned  an  important  fact  in  North  Carolina,  which  I  suppose  is  the 
cause  of  the  President's  call  for  militia  for  State  defence.  Correspondence 
intercepted  between  Foster,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Montgomery,  on  the 
Georgia  coast,  shows  that  a  plan  was  concocting  to  have  a  general  insur 
rection  among  the  slaves  on  the  1st  day  of  August.  Indeed,  the  plan  is 
concocted  and  perfected  on  a  limited  scale.  They  are  to  make  it  as  exten 
sive  as  possible  by  the  time.  From  prudential  reasons  the  correspondence 
has  not  yet  been  made  public." 

June  27th. — On  this  day  Hooker  was  succeeded  by  Meade, 
and  pressed  on  to  meet  Lee,  now  entering  Pennsylvania. 

"  To-day  I  had  an  interview  with  the  President.  I  may  go  further 
before  my  return.*  There  is  great  excitement  in  the  city  :  no  doubt  a 
formidable  force  is  advancing  on  it  from  below,  far  superior  in  numbers 
to  any  that  can  be  brought  against  it.  It  may  be  a  feint,  but  is  believed 


*  The  reference  is  to  Mr.  Stephens's  first  attempt  to  have  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  authorities  at  "Washington.  It  is  explained  in 
full  in  The  War  between  the  States,  vol.  ii.  coll  22. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS.  443 

to  be  real.  We  have  now  five  steamers  running  from  a  Southern  port  to 
a  neutral  one.  These  are  not  armed  vessels.  The  Alabama,  Florida.  Vir 
ginia,  Georgia,  and  Clarence  are  armed  ships  afloat.  We  have  got  by  our 
commercial  steamers  about  eighty  thousand  stand  of  arms  lately,  powder, 
etc.,  and  eight  hundred  cases  of  bacon  and  other  army  supplies.  Vicks- 
burg  has  been  replenished  with  provisions  from  the  other  side.  No  news 
from  Lee.  Nobody  here  knows  where  he  is.  I  am  still  very  anxious  to 
hear  from  home,  but  would  advise  you  to  trust  nothing  of  importance  to 
the  mails." 

Vicksburg,  however,  was  near  its  fall.  On  the  night  of  the 
22d  of  April,  Grant's  transports  had  rim  by  the  batteries  to 
Grand  Gulf,  where  his  forces  were,  from  which  point  lie  brought 
them  up,  and  being  joined  by  Sherman,  began  a  siege.  The  city 
was  held  by  General  Pemberton  with  about  thirty  thousand  men. 
It  was  partly  to  relieve  Pemberton,  by  drawing  off  a  part  of 
Grant's  force,  that  Lee  invaded  Pennsylvania.  On  the  1st,  2d, 
and  3d  of  July  was  fought  the  great  battle  of  Gettysburg,  in  which 
the  Confederates  were  not  only  checked  in  their  advance,  but 
compelled  to  retire  into  Virginia.  On  the  Fourth  of  July 
Vicksburg  surrendered,  and  Port  Hudson  on  the  9th,  thus  open 
ing  the  Mississippi. 

Richmond,  June  28tli. — The  excitement  in  the  city  continues, 
all  citizens  under  arms,  but  nothing  definitely  known. 

"The  state  of  the  controversy  on  the  condition  of  affairs  between  the 
two  Governments  in  regard  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners  is  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  condition.  We  are  upon  the  eve  of  the  bloodiest  and  most 
barbarous  system  of  retaliation.  The  enemy  refuses  to  exchange  any 
prisoner:  they  hold  all  our  prisoners  to  retaliate  upon  if  we  execute  such 
officers  as  may  be  captured  leading  negro  troops.  Whether  anything  can 
be  done  to  avert  this  result  I  do  not  know.  I  am  willing  to  do  all  I  can 
to  avert  it,  but  am  not  hopeful." 

June  30th. —  ...  "It  is  desired,  I  believe,  by  the  Government  that  I 
should  go  farther,  or  at  least  attempt  to  go  farther,  and  see  if  any  agree 
ment  can  be  made  on  the  disputed  points.  It  is  not  certain  that  I  would 
be  received.  .  .  .  From  what  I  can  see  of  the  state  of  the  questions,  I 
have  but  little  hope  of  being  able  to  effect  anything,  even  if  negotiations 
should  be  entertained.  ...  It  is  thought  important  to  have  the  effort 
made  and  the  overture  rejected  before  resort  to  retaliation,  which  is  now 
apparently  the  next  step  before  us.  .  .  .  No  news  from  Lee.  None  from 
Vicksburg.  The  enemy  at  White  House  are  increasing  their  forces,  it  is 
said.  The  citizens  are  all  out  under  arms  this  evening." 


444  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

July  1st. — u  I  believe  it  is  pretty  well  settled  that  I  shall  go  farther.  .  .  . 
I  saw  the  President  again  this  morning.  He  is  quite  sick  with  dysentery, 
and  was  suffering  greatly.  He  has  conversed  with  me  very  freely,  unre 
servedly,  and  most  confidingly  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  present 
position  of  our  affairs.  So  have  all  his  Cabinet.  Would  that  my  powers, 
under  the  guidance  and  aid  of  the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  were  equal  to 
what  they  desire  me  to  accomplish!  But  I  assure  you  that  I  have  but 
little  hope  of  succeeding  in  the  least  one  of  these  objects.  They  urged 
me  to  go,  though  I  told  them  candidly  that  in  the  present  condition  of 
things  I  could  effect  nothing.  I  yielded  my  judgment  to  theirs." 

Evening. —  .  .  .  "  Mr.  Seddon  has  just  left  me.  It  is  determined  that  I 
go.  Expect  to  start  the  day  after  to-morrow.  ...  I  have  to-day  read  the 
'  Montgomery  correspondence,'  as  it  is  called.  Montgomery  is  the  Kansas 
'Jay-hawker.'  The  correspondence  is  nothing  but  a  letter  from  him  to 
Foster,  dated  Washington,  D.  C.,  May  J2th.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  a  circular 
to  the  commanders  of  Federal  forces  in  the  several  Southern  districts, 
stating  in  substance  that  a  plan  was  arranged  to  sever  the  communications 
throughout  the  Southern  States.  The  plan  was  for  the  negroes,  as  far  as 
possible,  and  as  far  as  information  could  be  got  to  them  by  agents, — slaves 
from  their  lines,  seeming  to  be  escaped,  while  really  sent  on  this  business, 
— to  be  induced  to  rise  in  mass  on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  August,  and 
tear  down  all  bridges,  railroad  bridges,  telegraphic  wires,  etc.,  using  any 
and  all  weapons  they  could  find,  and  then  to  make  for  the  swamps  or 
mountains  until  they  could  get  communication  with  the  enemy.  They 
were  not  to  use  arms  except  in  self-defence.  They  were  to  live  on  roast- 
ing-ears,  etc.  As  the  letter  haw  not  been  made  public,  I  do  not  wish  you 
to  make  any  allusion  to  it ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  genuineness.  We 
have  no  further  information  from  the  enemy  on  the  Peninsula.  ...  A 
party  crossed  the  Pamunkey  day  before  yesterday, — cavalry, — it  was 
thought  with  the  intention  of  making  a  raid  on  Gordonsville.  The  militia 
up  there  were  called  out.  The  citizens  of  that  place  drill  every  day :  the 
number  is  said  to  be  two  thousand  four  hundred,  all  armed." 

July  9th. — "  The  news  from  Lee's  army  is  bad.  What  will  befall  Virginia 
in  case  he  has  met,  or  should  meet,  with  a  great  disaster  no  one  can  tell. 
...  I  was  very  sorry  that  he  crossed  the  Potomac.  If  I  had  known  he 
was  g(jing  to  do  it,  I  should  not  have  written  the  President  the  first  letter 
I  did.  My  policy  and  the  policy  of  invasion  were  directly  opposite." 

The  object  and  result  of  Mr.  Stephens's  mission  are  explained 
in  the  following  letter  of  July  10th : 

"  I  am  about  todeave  this  place  for  home  again.  I  am  through  with  the 
business  that  brought  me  here,  or  at  least  have  done  all  that  I  can  in  it. 
The  object  was  to  hold  a  conference  with  the  enemy  upon  several  points 
of  disagreement  on  the  existing  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  445 

These  points  of  disagreement  present  questions  of  the  gravest  char 
acter.  Both  sides  are  about  to  begin  retaliation.  I  was  exceedingly 
anxious  to  avoid  such  revolting  scenes,  and  undertook  a  mission  for  this 
purpose.  The  proposition  was  rejected  by  the  enemy,  after  deliberating 
on  it  for  two  days.  I  went  as  far  as  Newport  News.  There  my  arrival 
and  object  were  telegraphed  to  Washington  City  by  Admiral  S.  P.  Lee. 
of  the  North  Atlantic  squadron.  I  deeply  regret  the  result.  The  final 
determination  not  to  receive  the  mission  may  have  been  induced  by  news 
received  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  a  turn  in  the  tide  of  war  at  Gettys 
burg.  How  this  was  I  do  not  know.  My  object  was  made  known  on  the 
4th,  and  the  rejection  of  the  mission,  or  refusal  to  receive  it,  was  notified 
to  me  in  the  afternoon  of  the  6th.  We  have  no  news — none  reliable  at 
least — from  General  Lee.  The  greatest  anxiety  is  felt  for  the  fate  of  his 
army.  Misfortunes  seldom  come  singly.  The  prospect  before  us  presents 
nothing  cheering  to  me.  But  my  rule  is  neither  to  be  elated  by  good  news 
nor  depressed  by  bad." 

A  few  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Stephens  in  conversation  during 
the  summer  of  1863  were  committed  to  writing  at  the  time. 
One  day,  in  speaking  of  the  call  upon  Georgia  for  eight  thousand 
more  volunteers,  he  said  : 

u  I  think  it  was  expected  and  desired  that  the  call  should  fail,  because 
the  policy  of  conscription  is  preferred.  When  Governor  Brown  called  for 
volunteers  for  State  defence,  here  comes  a  call  for  the  eight  thousand.  As 
soon  as  it  is  ascertained  that  both  calls  will  be  successful,  the  call  under 
the  Conscription  Act  is  extended  to  forty-five  years.  Then  officers  are 
instructed  to  receive  none  but  able-bodied  men.  All  this  was  done,  in  my 
opinion,  to  prevent  volunteering  and  make  conscription  appear  to  be  in 
dispensable.  They  refuse  all  but  able-bodied  men  under  the  volunteer 
principles ;  but  General  Cooper  decides  that  incipient  consumption  shall 
not  exempt  a  conscript.  Now,  it  is  well  known  that  camps  are  fatal  to 
incipient  consumptives,  while  they  are  sometimes,  Avith  the  observance  of 
great  care,  cured.  We  had  much  better  take  a  confirmed  consumptive. 
He  will  die  in  any  event;  but  he  might  kill  one  of  the  enemy  before  he 
died."  .  .  . 

"  The  hardships  growing  out  of  our  military  arrangements  are  not  the 
fault  of  the  President.  I  once  thought  they  were.  But  they  are  due  to 
his  subordinates,  the  devotees  of  West  Point.  Cases  arise,  and  are  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  President,  who  must  decide  upon  them  almost  at 
once.  He  is  often  sick,  and  having  abundant  confidence  in  General  Cooper, 
gives  his  consent  to  whatever  he  proposes." 

Happening  to  be  in  Sparta  on  the'  1st  of  August,  he  was 
called  on,  by  a  large  number  of  citizens,  for  a  speech,  and  he 


446  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

addressed  them  at  some  length  on  the  state  of  affairs.  He  began 
by  saying  that  the  country  was  in  great  peril,  it  was  true ;  but 
that  there  was  no  adequate  cause  for  the  great  despondency 
which  seemed  to  have  seized  the  public  mind.  The  fall  of 
Vicksburg  and  of  Port  Hudson  were  misfortunes.  The  fall 
of  Charleston  and  of  Richmond  would  be  still  greater  misfor 
tunes.  But  all  together,  should  all  happen,  ought  not  to 
discourage  us.  There  was  but  one  question  to  ask  ourselves, 
and  that  was,  "  Are  we  determined  to  be  free  ?"  If  we  are, 
subjugation  is  impossible.  Charleston,  Savannah,  and  Augusta 
were  long  in  possession  of  the  British  in  the  war  of  independ 
ence.  Our  Congress  was  driven  from  Philadelphia,  and  that 
city  was  also  long  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  The  taking  of 
cities  is  a  small  matter  toward  subjugating  a  people  if  they  are 
determined  not  to  be  subjugated.  Frederick  the  Great  was 
driven  backwards  and  forwards  over  his  dominions  for  seven 
years,  his  capital  was  taken  twice;  but  determining  not  to  yield, 
and  having  true  statesmanship  combined  with  the  highest  mili 
tary  genius,  he  succeeded  at  last,  and  came  out  of  the  war  far 
more  powerful  than  when  he  went  into  it. 

Our  people  did  not  lack  for  courage.  The  Yankees  predicted 
that  our  great  want  would  be  the  want  of  patience.  And  this 
is  our  greatest  difficulty. 

If  the  doctrine  of  State  Rights  had  been  acknowledged,  we 
shouTcThave  had  no  war.  If  it  were  acknowledged  now,  we 
should  have  peace.  When  South  Carolina  seceded  she  ought 
to  have  been  allowed  to  go  in  peace.  This  was  her  perfect 
right.  If  it  had  been  best  for  her  to  secede,  it  was  her  right 
to  do  so.  Had  it  appeared  after  secession  that  this  was  not  for 
her  interest,  she  would  have  returned. 

Wherever  Mr.  Stephens  went  the  people  were  eager  to  have 
him  express  his  views  upon  the  situation  and  the  prospects  of 
public  affairs;  and  this  was  frequently  very  embarrassing  to 
him,  for,  while  in  several  important  points  he  disapproved  of 
the  policy  of  the  President,  and  feared  its  results,  he  had  no 
wish  to  cast  any  further  discouragement  on  the  spirit  of  the 
people,  who,  he  did  not  doubt,  were  able  to  maintain  their  in 
dependence,  if  they  would  have  but  resolution,  fortitude,  and 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  447 

• 

patriotism,  and  keep  always  in  view  the  motives  which  had 
determined  them  to  prefer  separation  to  union,  even  at  the  cost 
of  war.  He  was  also  often  annoyed  by  inaccurate  reports  of 
his  speeches,  wherein  not  only  were  points  omitted  on  which  he 
had  laid  great  stress,  but  he  was  made  to  say  things  which  he 
never  said,  and  express  views  quite  the  opposite  of  his  own. 
At  times  he  almost  resolved  not  to  speak  again  in  public,  on 
whatever  occasion. 

The  correspondence  still  turns  chiefly  on  public  matters. 

September  21st. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  .  .  .  "As  to  what  I  was  saying  in  the 
conversation  to  which  you  allude,  about  the  future  relations  of  the  Con 
federate  and  Western  States,  it  was  in  substance  this  (  We  must  govern 
the  Northwest  by  ideas,  or  they  will  govern  us  by  forcfi)  There  is  no 
reason  in  the  world  why  we  should  not  be  upon  the  most  intimate  and 
friendly  terms  with  them,  so  far  as  trade  and  commerce  are  concerned. 
It  is  to  the  interest  of  both  parties  that  such  should  be  the  case.  Whether 
both  sections  shall  ever  again  be  under  a  common  government  is  beyond 
all  satisfactory  conjecture  or  speculation  at  this  time.  But  this  is  not 
necessary  for  the  purposes  I  indicate.  Their  policy  could  be  controlled 
by  ideas  emanating  from  us  without  the  exercise  by  us  of  any  govern 
mental  authority  over  them,  or  by  them  over  us,  when  the  war  is  over, 
and  it  must  end  at  some  time  in  some  way ;  we  must,  if  we  succeed,  have 
some  treaty  or  compact  with  these  people,  regulating  our  trade  and  inter 
course  with  them.  What  will  be  the  nature  of  such  treaty  or  compact 
we  now  cannot  say.  But  in  my  opinion  now  is  a  fitting  time, — indeed, 
from  the  beginning  the  time  has  been  fitting  to  throw  out  such  ideas  as 
may  be  the  nucleus  on  which  the  future  compact  may  be  formed.  These 
ideas  should  be  well  considered  and  matured,  looking  to  their  interests  as 
well  as  ours." 

October  28th. — He  writes  in  reply  to  R.  M.  J.,  who  has  asked 
what  would  be  his  probable  course  in  the  event  of  the  death  of 
the  President. 

"I  should  regard  the  death  of  the  President  as  the  greatest  possible 
public  calamity.  What  I  should  do  I  know  not.  I  have  never  permitted 
my  mind  to  contemplate  the  future  so  far.  Should  the  contingency  happen 
while  I  hold  my  present  position,  I  should  be  governed  in  my  action  by 
circumstances:  I  should  look  to  such  men  as  I  might  find  agreeing  with 
me  in  the  line  of  policy  I  might  think  it  best  to  pursue.  Who  they  might 
be  I  do  not  know.  I  have  many  strong  personal  friends  5  but  such  would 
not  do  to  rely  on  in  matters  of  state.  Men  of  the  greatest  ability,  united 


448  L]FE    OF  ALEXANDER  PL  STEPHENS. 

with  me  in  opinions,  whose  services  I  could  command  on  such  a  line  of 
policy  as  I  might  adopt,  would  be  those. I  would  seek  after.  My  first  and 
great  object  would  be  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the  people ;  to  make  the 
Administration  acceptable  to  all  classes ;  to  make  every  man  who  fights 
or  suffers  by  privation  or  sacrifice  in  any  way,  feel  that  it  is  all  for  his 
rights  and  liberties,  and  not  for  a  mere  dynasty. ^Good  government  and 
constitutional  liberty,  the  birthright  of  our  people,  should  be  the  governing 
principle.)  This  I  state  to  you,  not  as  the  result  of  any  reflection  on  the 
subjecTpbut  as  the  instincts  of  my  nature.  Hence  I  think  it  not  improb 
able  that  among  the  first  acts  I  should  perform  would  be  the  clearing  of 
the  hospitals  of  thousands  of  sick  and  invalid  soldiers,  who  are  doing 
nothing  but  wasting  what  of  life  is  left  them  where  they  can  do  the  public 
no  good,  but  are  exhausting  supplies  which  will  soon  be  very  much  needed. 
Every  provost-marshal  should  soon  be  dismissed,  and  the  whole  passport 
system  abolished.  Fifty  thousand  men  now  engaged  all  over  the  country 
in  this  sort  of  annoying  business  should  either  be  sent  to  the  army  where 
they  belong,  or  sent  home  to  some  profitable  occupation.  All  impress 
ments,  except  hx-ease  of  actual  necessity  for  the  army,  should  be  instantly 
discontinued. C  Supplies  should  be  bought  at  market  value.  Virtue,  hon 
esty,  justice,  and  patriotism,  that  lofty  sentiment  which  looks  to  good 
government  as  something  worth  living  for  and  dying  for,  should  be  incul 
cated  in  every  possible  way." 

November  3d. — (To  R.  M.  J. )  "  In  my  letter  of  last  week,  written  just 
before  starting  for  Atlanta,  I  did  not  say  as  much  as  I  intended  on  one 
point  alluded  to.  That  was,  my  reason  for  looking  upon  the  death  of  the 
President,  should  such  an  event  happen,  as  one  of  the  greatest  public 
calamities  that  could  befall  us.  This  is  an  unpleasant  subject  to  me  5  but 
as  your  letter  brought  it  to  my  mind,  and  I  gave  you  the  opinion  I  did,  it 
is  but  proper  to  state  the  reasons  upon  which  it  was  founded<X_The  gen 
eral  and  profound  shock  such  an  event  would  produce  throughout  the 
country  in  its  present  restless  and  dissatisfied  condition,  would  of  itself 
tend  to  gender  and  increase  a  spirit  of  dissension  and  faction^*  Such  a 
spirit  at  all  times  exists  in  a  country  situated  as  ours  is;  antTwith  us  it 
would  almost  certainly  manifest  itself  in  a  formidable  way,  from  the  fact 
that  a  large  party  in  the  country,  or  at  least  a  large  number  of  prominent 
and  active  men  in  the  country,  who  would,  in  all  probability,  soon  form  a 
party  for  concert  of  action,  really  and  honestly  would  distrust  my  ability 
to  conduct  affairs  successfully.  They  have  now,  and  would  have,  no  con 
fidence  in  my  judgment  or  capacity  for  the  position  that  such  an  untimely 
misfortune  would  cast  upon  me.  They  believe,  1  am  confident,  that  under 
my  administration  all  would  go  to  ruin.  To  what  extent  these  demonstra 
tions  might  go  I  cannot  conjecture ;  but  quite  far  enough  greatly  to  weaken 
and  cripple  my  efforts  on  any  line  of  policy  I  might  adopt,  even  assuming 
that  it  might  be  the  best.  The  unhinging  and  upturning  and  unsettling 
things  so  little  settled  at  present;  the  greater  confounding  of  things  even 


LIFE   OF   ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  449 

now  confused ;  the  uncertainties,  the  disquietudes,  the  breakings-up  of  hopes 
and  expectations  that  such  an  event  would  occasion,  would  render  it  un- 
questionahly  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  could  befall  us,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  correctness  of  the  views  of  those  who  entertain  such  serious 
doubts  of  my  ability  to  direct  affairs.  On  that  point  I  assure  you  I  have 
the  strongest  distrust  of  myself.  I  know  that  affairs  in  many  particulars 
would  not  be  managed  as  they  are ;  but  would  they  be  managed  for  the 
better  or  the  worse?  I  know  not;  and  it  Avould  be  with  trembling  and 
fear  I  should  take  the  helm  if  the  necessity  should  ever  arise. 
"I  wish  never  to  advert  to  this  subject  again." 

Sparta,  November  23d. — Mr.  Stephens  writes  to  Lin  ton  from 
Linton's  own  house,  where  he  had  come  to  pay  him  a  visit,  but 
found  him  not  at  home.  So  he  has  his  talk  on  paper.  He 
makes  quite  a  little  dramatic  scene  of  his  entrance  and  greetings 
by  the  children  and  servants.  It  is  the  birthday  of  his  niece 
"  Becky,"  and  he  has  brought  her  some  presents.  There  is  some 
joking  at  the  expense  of  one  of  the  family,  who  in  running  from 
a  clog  had  broken  down  part  of  a  panel  of  fence.  "Uncle 
Aleck"  enters  very  heartily  into  it  all,  and  is  particularly  solicit 
ous  for  information  about  this  "  running-from-the-dog  affair;" 
and  afterwards  records  it  all  with  great  gusto  for  the  absent 
father.  The  next  morning  he  continues  his  chronicle,  and  gives 
in  dramatic  form  a  "  scene  in  the  library,"  where  he  seems  to 
have  held  a  sort  of  High  Court  of  Investigation  as  to  how 
things  are  going  on  on  the  place.  There  is  a  kind  of  murrain 
among  the  young  pigs,  it  seems,  but  no  scarcity  of  meat  is  ap 
prehended.  There  are  eighty  acres  of  corn  to  gather.  Firewood 
is  running  low,  but  they  are  going  to  haul  some.  And  thus  all 
the  personages  of  the  household,  in  their  own  persons,  are  made 
to  tell  the  little  news, — the  so  trivial  yet  so  precious  talk  of 
home.  He  thinks,  though  he  does  not  say  so,  that  in  this  form 
it  will  please  his  brother  best. 

Sparta,  November  %4th. — Another  little  batch  of  home  news. 
The  children  are  writing  to  their  father. 

..."  Becky  got  her  letter  off  yesterday.  Claude  did  not  get  through 
with  hers  in  time  this  morning.  I  told  her  to  write  another  and  not  to 
make  it  so  long.  This  she  did.  I  inclose  both  of  them  to  you.  They  cost 
her  a  great  deal  of  labor.  She  does  not  know  I  am  going  to  send  both.  I 
don't  know  whether  you  can  read  either.  I  made  her  captions  for  her,  and 

29 


450  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

have  trimmed  a  few  of  her  double  t's,  so  as  to  make  them  a  little  plainer. 
I  can  read  both  letters  very  well,  but  doubt  if  you  can.  Cosby ,*  however, 
says  that  they  are  as  plain  as  mine.  He,  by  the  by,  is  writing  to  you  and 
grunting.  He  is  badly  off  with  rheumatism." 

November  25th. — He  has  made  an  omission  in  a  previous  letter, 
— an  omission  for  him  really  surprising, — and  writes  to  correct 
it. 

"I  did  great  injustice  to  a  member  of  your  household  in  my  letter  of 
Monday.  I  fully  intended  to  make  the  amende  honorable  yesterday,  but 
forgot  it.  In  my  letter  I  said  that  when  I  got  here  I  found  nobody  at 
home,  when  the  truth  was,  Pompey  [Linton's  dog]  was  on  the  steps  and 
gave  me  a  most  cordial  welcome.  He  said  nothing,  but  conducted  me  into 
the  library  with  a  great  deal  of  canine  gallantry.  He  has  ever  since  kept 
close  to  me.  Last  night  he  slept  in  my  room  (your  room,  I  should  say), 
but  did  not  make  any  attempt  on  the  bed.  This  showed  better  breeding, 
I  think,  than  his  grandson  Binks  would  have  shown  under  the  circum 
stances.  Sir  Bingo  always  looks  out  for  soft  places  and  warm  ones  in  cold 
weather. 

11  Dr.  Berckmans  came  over  yesterday  evening  to  play  piquet  with  me. 
We  had  several  games.  After  supper  he  and  Cosby  played :  I  sat  in  the 
corner  and  smoked  my  pipe.  They  played  on  until  I  got  sleepy:  the  game 
between  them  about  equal  from  what  I  could  gather.  Half  asleep,  I  would 
occasionally  hear  Cosby  saying,  '  Five  cards  and  four  sequences  is  nine — 

and  three  aces  is  twelve — is  twelve — is  twelve — twelve '  The  Doctor : 

'  You  will  play  for  thirteen,  if  you  please.'  Cosby :  i  Twelve — twelve/ 
Then  on  another  hand  the  Doctor  would  say,  '  I  am  cant-e-corse;  (quints  et 
quatorze:  fifteen  sequences  and  fourteen  by  pairs), — 'I  am  fifteen  on  spades 
and  four  aces.'  In  this  way  it  went  on  until  I  got  up  and  went  to  bed." 

Crawfordville,  December  9th.  ...  "I  see  it  stated  that  Johnston  is  to 
take  command  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  I  am  glad  of  this.  .  .  .  One 
thing  about  Johnston  I  like, — or  at  least  I  have  the  opinion  of  him  that 
he  will  not  fight  unless  he  feels  assured  of  victory.  Our  ultimate  success 
now  depends  as  much  upon  not  fighting  as  fighting." 

December  31st. — He  would  have  gone  to  Richmond  by  this 
time,  but  has  been  suffering  greatly  with  his  side,  and  the  un 
usually  wet  weather  makes  travelling  dangerous  for  an  invalid. 
Linton  has  been  confiding  some  trouble  to  him,  and  he  writes: 

"  Your  last  letter  has  awakened  my  deepest  sympathy.     Could  I  say  or 


*  Cosby  Council,  Esq.,  a  bachelor-friend  of  Linton's,  residing  at  his 
house. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   1L  STEPHENS.  451 

do  anything  to  afford  relief  or  even  consolation,  most  cheerfully  would  1 
do  it.  But  I  can  do  no  more  than  give  you  my  own  experience.  I  can 
but  hope  that  you  may  perhaps  profit  by  it.  I  have  in  my  life  been  one 
of  the  most  miserable  beings,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  walked  the  earth, — sub 
ject  to  occasional  fits  of  depression  that  seemed  well-nigh  bordering  on 
despair.  (Without  enjoyment,  without  pleasure,  without  hope,  and  without 
sympathy  \vith  the  world.  Everything  seemed  to  render  me  more  and 
more  miserable.  The  first  lesson  I  learned  in  this  condition  that  did  me 
any  good  was  this  great  truth :  that  man's  happiness  or  misery  depends 
more  upon  himself  than  everything  else  combined/^Every  one  carries  with 
him  passions  and  emotions  with  which,  according  to  their  cultivation,  he 
may  make  a  heaven  or  a  hell.  The  first  rule  of  conduct  deduced  from 
this  lesson  was  the  strict  and  absolute  avoidance  of  everything  that 
annoyed,  or  tended  to  excite  those  passions  that  rendered  me  unhappy, 
and  the  assiduous  cultivation  of  those  feelings  that  were  attended  with  the 
opposite  effect.  Great  and  heroic  effort  was  necessary  at  first  and  for  a 
long  time.  .  .  .  Never  let  the  mind  dwell  upon  anything  disagreeable, — 
turn  it  to  something  else.  Even  in  the  worst  state  of  things  that  befall  us 
there. are  some  prospects  more  agreeable  than  others:  let  the  mind  be 
directed  to  them.  ^With  a  proper  discipline  of  one's  self  in  this  way,  ever 
keeping  the  passions  in  perfect  subjection,  contentment  and  happiness  are 
attainable  by  all,  with  a  constant  culture  of  the  moral  faculties,  and  a 
firm  reliance  on  the  great  Father  of  the  univers~e;v> _/ 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

Sudden  Illness — Hospitality  of  Liberty  Hall — An  Emergency — Speech 
before  the  Legislature — "Habeas  Corpus"  and  "Peace"  [Resolutions — 
Weather  Notes — Keminiscences  of  Governor  Troup — A  Night  Adven 
ture  and  an  Escape — A  Cynic  Philosopher — Notes  of  Travel — Wounded 
Soldiers — Sherman  approaching — The  Chicago  Convention — Letter  to 
Georgia  Gentlemen — General  Sherman's  Device  and  its  Failure — Plans 
of  Adjustment — Thinks  of  resigning — Judge  Taney's  Decision. 

THE  health  of  Mr.  Stephens  was  worse  than  usual  during 
the  winter  of  1863-64.  To  his  existing  infirmities  was  added 
another,  which,  in  the  matter  of  actual  physical  suffering,'  was 
more  than  all  the  rest  together.  About  the  middle  of  January 
he  was  suddenly,  and  without  any  premonitory  symptoms, 
seized  with  an  excruciating  pain  in  the  side.  Familiarity  with 
suffering  and  sickness  had  already  led  him  to  some  researches 
into  the  causes  and  symptoms  of  disease,  and  the  nature  of  that 
organism  which  was  susceptible  of  such  variety  of  torment ;  and 
he  at  once  judged  that  his  new  trouble  was  calculus  in  the  kid 
ney.  He  had  but  just  time  to  summon  a  servant  and  send  for 
his  brother  and  a  physician,  when  his  pain  became  so  extreme 
that  he  fell  down  helpless.  From  this  disease  he  suffered  greatly 
for  more  than  a  year;  but  none  of  the  following  paroxysms 
was  so  violent  as  the  first,  and  having  learned  to  anticipate 
them,  he  was  enabled  to  break  their  force  by  precautionary 
measures. 

On  the  1st  of  January  he  writes  to  R.  M.  J. : 

"Our  affairs,  in  my  judgment,  have  been  growing  worse  and  worse  for 
the  last  four  years,  and  will  be  greatly  worse  yet,  I  fear,  unless  there  be 
a  radical  change  in  our  military  policy, — if  indeed  we  have  any,  which  I 
very  much  question.  It  seems  to  me  that  those  at  the  head  of  our  affairs 
on  this  subject  have  had  no  policy,  no  definite  line  of  action  with  a  view 
to  fixed  objects.  They  have  all  along  been  like  the  Tennessee  lawyer, 
'  trusting  to  the  sublimity  of  luck,  and  floating  upon  the  surface  of  the 
452 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  453 

occasion.'  .  .  .  But  I  will  not  croak  or  grumble.     I  am  a  patient  looker- 
on,— that  is  all." 

January  21st.  ..."  If  the  pending  proposition  before  Congress  passes, 
to  put  the  whole  country  under  martial  law,  with  the  suspension  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  President  signs  and  enforces  it,  and  the 
people  submit  to  it,  constitutional  liberty  will  go  down,  never  to  rise  agaii 
on  this  continent,  I  fear.  This  is  the  worst  that  can  befall  us.  Far  b( 
that  our  country  should  be  overrun  by  the  enemy,  our  cities  sacked  and 
burned,  and  our  land  laid  desolate,  than  that  the  people  should  thus  suffer  t 
the  citadel  of  their  liberties  to  be  entered  and  taken  by  professed  friends^ 

/There  was  probably  no  home  in  Georgia  where  the  old- 
fashioned  virtue  of  hospitality  was— ind  still  is — practised  on 
a  more  liberal  scale  than  at  Liberty  Hall.*  For  many  years  it 
has  been  Mr.  Stephens's  practice,  during  court  week,  to  entertain 
all  the  lawyers  in  attendance  from  other  counties.  As  he  lived 
on  the  line  of  the  railroad,  every  one  who  passed  between  Au 
gusta  and  Atlanta,  whether  previously  acquainted  with  him  or 
not,  felt  entirely  free  to  favor  Mr.  Stephens  with  a  brief  call, — a 
visit  of  a  day  or  two,  or  a  stay  of  several  weeks,  as  they  might 
feel  inclined.  Some  came  out  of  respect,  some  from  curiosity,  some 
to  ask  pecuniary  assistance,  and  many  from  the  feeling  that  his 
house  was  open  to  everybody.  As  for  the  people  of  Taliaferro 
County,  there  was  not  a  man,  woman,  or  child  there  who  did 
not  feel  as  much  at  -home  in  Mr.  Stephens's  house  as  in  their 
own,  which  they  were  free  to  enter  at  any  time  and  stay  as  long 
as  they  pleased.  So  it  can  be  easily  surmised  that,  although  his 
personal  manner  of  living  has  always  been'of  the  simplest  kind, 
his  domestic  expenses  have  been  exceedingly  heavy.  In  addition 
to  the  sums  he  has  bestowed  on  the  education  of  young  men,  as 
already  mentioned,  he  has  probably  expended  in  charity  a  greater 
proportion  of  his  income  than  has  any  other  man  of  his  part  of 
the  country. 

*  This  name  he  gave  his  residence  in  1845,  when  he  first  became  its  pro 
prietor.  The  name  was  given  because  he  expected  all  friendly  visitors  to 
act  with  as  perfect  liberty  as  if  they  were  at  home.  The  house  was  always 
open,  whether  Mr.  Stephens  was  there  or  not.  During  the  war  many  gave 
it  the  name  of  '•  the  Wayside  Home,"  where  sick  and  crippled  soldiers 
were  always  hospitably  received  and  well  cared  for  by  Harry,  the  excellent 
luajor-dorno  of  the  establishment,  and  his  worthy  wife,  Eliza. 


454  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Rarely  does  a  chance  visitor  call  at  Liberty  Hall  at  dinner 
time  thatflie  do^jaot_fini. other  guests,  some  of  whom  were  as 
little  expected  as  himself.  Mr.  Johnston  has  often  seen  a  plain 
countryman  walk  into  Mr.  Stephens's  office,  where  the  latter 
was  writing,  and  after  an  exchange  of  greetings  not  a  word 
has  been  spoken  until  dinner  was  announced.  Immediately 
after  dinner  the  guest  has  departed  with  as  little  ceremony 
as  graced  his  entry ;  very  frequently  first  asking  and  receiving 
an  order  on  the  village  store  for  groceries,  or  a  pair  of  shoes,  or 
a  frock  for  his  wife.  It  may  be  thought  that  this  practice  does 
not  tend  to  improve  the  independence  and  self-respect  of  the 
stalwart  yeomen  of  Taliaferro ;  but  they  seem  to  feel  that  they 
stand  in  a  different  and  closer  relation  to  Mr.  Stephens  than  to 
the  rest  of  their  more  affluent  neighbors. 

Mr.  Stephens,  however,  never  allows  himself  to  be  incom 
moded  by  these  visitations.  If  he  is  occupied,  he  welcomes  his 
guests  and  then  continues  what  he  has  in  hand,  leaving  them 
to  entertain  themselves.  His  dinner-hour  is  never  postponed  ; 
and  whether  his  guests  be  few  or  many,  they  must  content  them 
selves  with  what  is  already  prepared  or  can  be  got  ready  without 
delay.  The  following  letter,  written  after  an  unexpected  influx 
of  guests,  will  serve  to  show  some  of  his  resources  on  such 
occasions : 

"Just  as  I  was  concluding  that  letter,  Dr. and  his  family  came  in, — 

wife,  children,  and  servants, — '  frustrating'  me  a  little,  as  it  was  dinner 
time,  and  I  knew  that  only  three  names  beside  my  own  had  been  put  into 
the  pot,  and  as  I  was  unwell,  and  besides  it  was  Eliza's  [his  cook  and 
laundress]  wash-day,  I  thought  of  but  little  during  the  winding-up  of  my 
letter  but  the  scanty  showing  for  dinner  we  should  have  for  so  many  more 
than  were  expected,  unless  new  arrangements  were  immediately  put  in 
motion.  For,  besides  the  doctor  and  his  family,  I  soon  saw  two  others 
coming. 

"  And  now  if  you  have  any  curiosity  to  know  how  the  little  affair  of 
dinner  at  short  notice  on  a  wash-day  was  managed,  I  will  state  for  your 
satisfaction  that  Eliza  very  soon  had  us  an  excellent  meal  of  fried  ham 
and  eggs,  quite  enough  for  all,  which  all  seemed  to  relish  very  well.  too. 
The  bread  was  hasty  corn-cake,  good  enough  for  hungry  people.  This, 
with  butter  and  buttermilk,  constituted  our  dessert.  The  children  pitched 
into  sorghum  syrup  with  as  keen  a  relish  as  if  it  had  been  apple-pie. 
Upon  the  whole  I  do  not  know  if  it  did  not  all  pass  off  as  well  as  if  I  had 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  455 

delayed  dinner  an  hour  or  two  and  had  tried  to  do  better.  My  rule  in 
such  cases  is,  never  to  fix  up  anything  for  persons  dropping  in  at  meal 
time.  If  I  have  not  enough  cooked,  as  in  this  case,  I  set  them  to  cooking 
that  which  can  be  got  ready  in  the  quickest  time." 

Mr.  Stephens  continued  his  opposition  to  the  bill  authorizing 
the  President  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Frequent 
allusions  to  it  occur  in  the  correspondence. 

February  20th.— {To  Linton.)  "I  see  by  the  telegrams  yesterday  that 
the  habeas  corpus  suspension  is  not  general ;  but  the  limitations  are  not, 
as  to  totality,  as  I  expected.  They  are  as  to  causes  of  arrest.  The  efforts 
to  suspend  the  act  were  once  defeated,  I  think.  The  matter  then,  as  the 
bill  shows,  was  brought  forward  at  the  instance  of  the  President.  Con 
gress,  I  suspect,  granted  only  part  of  the  request, — not,  probably,  what 
was  wanted.  So  the  courts  are  still  left  open  for  the  protection  of  ordinary 
legal  rights.  But  I  trust  the  new  Congress  will  repeal  the  present  act. 
Power  should  not  be  allowed  to  make  any  encroachment." 

On  the  16th  of  March,  Mr.  Stephens,  by  request,  addressed 
the  Legislature  of  Georgia  on  the  state  of  public  affairs.  In 
this  speech,  which  was  made  the  subject  of  much  hostile  news 
paper  comment,  he  reviewed  and  sharply  criticised  the  "  Con 
scription"  and  "  Habeas  Corpus"  acts,  and  warned  the  people 
against  the  danger  of  supposing  that  any  emergency  could 
render  necessary  the  surrender  of  their  liberties. 

In  this  month  two  sets  of  resolutions,  known  as  the  "  Habeas 
Corpus"  and  "  Peace  Resolutions,"  were  drawn  up  and  presented 
by  Linton  Stephens  to  the  Georgia  Legislature,  and  adopted  by 
that  body.  Their  character  and  tone  had  great  effect,  and  the 
Peace  Resolutions,  as  the  expression  of  so  powerful  a  State  of 
the  Confederacy,  greatly  strengthened  the  hopes  of  that  party 
at  the  North  who  wished  the  war  to  be  closed  on  some  amicable 
plan.  These  Resolutions  were  as  follows : 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Georgia  do  resolve, 
I'  1st.  That  under  the  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  there  is  no 
power  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  but  in  a  man 
ner  and  to  an  extent  regulated  and  limited  by  the  express,  emphatic,  and 
unqualified  constitutional  prohibitions  that  '  no  person  shall  be  deprived 
of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,'  and  that  'the 
right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated, 


456  L1FE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

and  no  warrant  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or 
affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  places  to  be  searched  and  the 
persons  or  things  to  be  seized.'  And  this  conclusion  results  from  the  two 
following  reasons  :  First,  because  the  power  to  suspend  the  writ  is  derived, 
not  from  express  delegation,  but  only  from  implication,  which  must  always 
yield  to  express,  conflicting,  and  restraining  words.  Second,  because  this 
power  being  found  nowhere  in  the  Constitution,  but  in  words  which  are 
copied  from  the  original  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  adopted  in 
1787,  must  yield  in  all  points  of  conflict  to  the  subsequent  amendments 
of  1789,  which  are  also  copied  into  our  present  Constitution,  and  which 
contain  the  prohibitions  above  quoted,  and  were  adopted  with  the  declared 
purpose  of  adding  further  declaratory  and  restrictive  clauses. 

"  2d.  That  due  process  of  law  for  seizing  the  persons  of  the  people,  as 
denned  by  the  Constitution  itself,  is  a  warrant  issued  upon  probable  cause, 
supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  persons 
to  be  seized;  and  the  issuing  of  such  warrants,  being  an  act  of  judicial 
power,  is,  if  done  by  any  branch  of  the  Government  except  the  judiciary, 
a  plain  violation  of  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  vests  the 
judicial  power  in  the  courts  alone;  and  therefore  all  seizures  of  the  per 
sons  of  the  people  by  any  officer  of  the  Confederate  Government,  without 
warrant,  and  all  warrants  for  that  purpose,  from  any  but  a  judicial  source, 
are,  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  unreasonable  and  uncon 
stitutional. 

"  3d.  That  the  recent  act  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  cases  of  arrests  ordered  by  the  President,  Secre 
tary  of  War,  or  general  officer  commanding  the  Trans-Mississippi  Military 
Department,  is  an  attempt  to  sustain  the  military  authority  in  the  exercise 
of  the  constitutional  judicial  function  of  issuing  warrants,  and  to  give 
validity  to  unconstitutional  seizures  of  the  persons  of  the  people;  and  as 
the  said  act,  by  its  express  terms,  confines  its  operation  to  the  upholding 
of  this  class  of  unconstitutional  seizures,  the  whole  suspension  attempted 
to  be  authorized  by  it,  and  the  whole  act  itself,  in  the  judgment  of  this 
General  Assembly,  are  unconstitutional. 

"4th.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  said  act  is  a 
dangerous  assault  upon  the  constitutional  power  of  the  courts,  and  upon 
the  liberty  of  the  people,  and  beyond  the  power  of  any  possible  necessity 
to  justify  it;  and  while  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  are 
earnestly  urged  to  take  the  first  possible  opportunity  to  have  it  repealed, 
we  refer  the  question  of  its  validity  to  the  courts,  with  the  hope  that  the 
people  and  the  military  authorities  will  abide  by  the  decision. 

"  5th.  That  as  constitutional  liberty  is  the  sole  object  which  our  people 
and  our  noble  army  have,  in  our  present  terrible  struggle  with  the  Govern 
ment  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so.  also,  is  a  faithful  adherence  to  it,  on  the  part  of 
our  own  Government,  through  good  fortune  in  arms,  and  through  bad, 
one  of  the  great  elements  of  our  strength  and  final  success ;  because  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  457 

constant  contrast  of  constitutional  government  on  our  part  with  the  usur 
pations  and  tyrannies  which  characterize  the  government  of  our  enemy, 
under  the  ever-recurring  and  ever-false  plea  of  the  necessities  of  war,  will 
have  the  double  effect  of  animating  our  people  with  an  unconquerable 
zeal,  and  of  inspiring  the  people  of  the  North  more  and  more  with  a  desire 
and  determination  to  put  an  end  to  a  contest  which  is  waged  by  their 
Government  openly  against  our  liberty,  and  as  truly,  but  more  covertly, 
against  their  own.'' 

The  "  Peace  Resolutions"  were  as  follows : 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Georgia  do  resolve, 

"  1st.  That  to  secure  the  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi 
ness  '  governments  were  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that,  whenever  any  form  becomes  de 
structive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it, 
and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  princi 
ples,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  shall  seem  to  them  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.' 

"2d.  That  the  best  possible  commentary  upon  this  grand  text  of  our 
fathers  of  1776  is  their  accompanying  action  which  it  was  put  forth  to 
justify ;  and  that  action  was  the  immortal  declaration  that  the  former 
political  connection  between  the  colonies  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain 
was  dissolved,  and  the  thirteen  colonies  were,  and  of  right  ought  to  be, 
not  one  independent  State,  but  thirteen  independent  States,  each  of  them 
being  such  a  '  people'  as  had  the  right,  whenever  they  chose  to  exercise  it, 
to  separate  themselves  from  a  political  association  and  government  of  their 
former  choice,  and  institute  a  new  government  to  suit  themselves. 

"3d.  That  if  Rhode  Island,  with  her  meagre  elements  of  nationality, 
was  such  a  '  people'  in  1776,  when  her  separation  from  the  Government 
and  people  of  Great  Britain  took  place,  much  more  was  Georgia  and  each 
of  the  other  seceding  States,  with  their  large  territories,  populations,  and 
resources,  such  a  'people,'  and  entitled  to  exercise  the  same  right  in  1861, 
when  they  declared  their  separation  from  the  Government  and  the  people 
of  the  United  States ;  and  if  the  separation  was  rightful  in  the  first  case, 
it  was  more  clearly  so  in  the  last,  the  right  depending,  as  it  does  in  the 
case  of  every  'people'  for  whom  it  is  claimed,  simply  upon  their  fitness 
and  their  will  to  constitute  an  independent  State. 

"  4th.  That  this  right  was  perfect  in  each  of  the  States,  to  be  exercised 
by  her  at  her  own  pleasure,  without  challenge  or  resistance  from  any  other 
power  whatsoever ;  and  while  these  Southern  States  had  long  had  reason 
enough  to  justify  its  assertion  against  some  of  their  faithless  associates, 
yet,  remembering  the  dictate  of  'prudence'  that  'governments  long  estab 
lished  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes,'  they  forbore 
a  resort  to  its  exercise  until  numbers  of  the  Northern  States,  State  after 
State,  through  a  series  of  years,  and  by  studied  legislation,  had  arrayed 


458  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

themselves  in  open  hostility  against  an  acknowledged  provision  of  the 
Constitution,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  the  election  of  a  President  who  was 
the  avowed  exponent  and  executor  of  their  faithless  designs  against  the 
constitutional  rights  of  their  Southern  sisters ;  rights  which  had  been 
often  adjudicated  by  the  courts,  and  which  were  never  denied  by  the  aboli 
tionists  themselves,  but  upon  the  ground  that  the  Constitution  itself  was 
void  whenever  it  came  in  conflict  with  a  '  higher  law,'  which  they  could 
not  find  among  the  laws  of  God,  and  which  depended  for  its  exposition 
solely  upon  the  elastic  consciences  of  rancorous  partisans.  The  Constitu 
tion  thus  broken,  and  deliberately  and  persistently  repudiated  by  several 
of  the  States  who  were  parties  to  it,  ceased,  according  to  universal  law, 
to  be  binding  on  any  of  the  rest ;  and  those  States  who  had  been  wronged 
by  the  breach  were  justified  in  using  their  right  to  provide  '  new  guards 
for  their  future  security.' 

f  "5th.  That  the  reasons  which  justified  the  separation  when  it  took 
place,  have  been  vindicated  and  enhanced  in  force  by  the  subsequent  course 
of  the  Government  of  Mr.  Lincoln, — by  his  contemptuous  rejection  of  the 
Confederate  Commissioners  who  were  sent  to  Washington  before  the  war, 
to  settle  all  matters  of  difference  without  a  resort  to  arms;  thus  evincing 
his  determination  to  have  war, — by  his  armed  occupation  of  the  territory 
of  the  Confederate  States,  and  especially  by  his  treacherous  attempt  to 
reinforce  his  garrisons  in  their  midst,  after  they  had,  in  pursuance  of 
their  right,  withdrawn  their  people  and  "territory  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
his  Government :  thus  rendering  Avar  a  necessity,  and  actually  inaugurating 
the  present  lamentable  war, — by  his  official  denunciation  of  the  Confeder 
ate  States  as  'rebels'  and  'disloyal'  States  for  their  rightful  withdrawal 
from  their  faithless  associate  States,  while  no  word  of  censure  has  ever 
fallen  from  him  against  those  faithless  States  who  were  truly  '  disloyal'  to 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  which  was  the  only  cement  to  the  Union, 
and  who  were  the  true  authors  of  all  the  wrong  and  all  the  mischief  of 
the  separation  ;  thus  insulting  the  innocent  by  charging  upon  them  the 
crimes  of  his  own  guilty  allies, — and  finally,  by  his  monstrous  usurpations 
of  power  and  undisguised  repudiation  of  the  Constitution,  and  his  mock 
ing  scheme  of  securing  a  'republican'  form  of  government  to  sovereign 
States  by  putting  nine-tenths  of  the  people  under  the  dominion  of  one- 
tenth  who  may  be  abject  enough  to  swear  allegiance  to  his  usurpation, 
thus  betraying  his  design  to  subvert  true  constitutional  republicanism 
in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the  South. 

"  6th.  That  while  we  regard  the  present  war  between  these  .Confederate 
States  and  the  United  States  as  a  huge  crime,  whose  beginning  and  continu 
ance  are  justly  chargeable  to  the  Government  of  our  enemy,  yet  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  affirm  that,  if  our  own  Government  and  the  people  of  both 
Governments,  would  avoid  all  participation  in  the  guilt  of  its  continuance, 
it  becomes  all  of  them,  on  all  proper  occasions  and  in  all  proper  ways, — the 
people  acting  through  their  State  organizations  and  popular  Assemblies, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  459 

and  our  Government  through  its  appropriate  departments, — to  use  their 
earnest  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  this  unnatural,  unchristian,  and  savage  work 
of  carnage  and  havoc.  And  to  this  end  we  earnestly  recommend  that  our 
Government,  immediately  after  signal  successes  of  our  arms,  and  on  other 
occasions  when  none  can  impute  its  action  to  alarm,  instead  of  a  sincere 
desire  for  peace,  shall  make  to  the  Government  of  our  enemy  an  official 
offer  of  peace  on  the  basis  of  the  great  principle  declared  by  our  common 
fathers  in  1776,  accompanied  by  the  distinct  expression  of  a  willingness 
on  our  part  to  follow  that  principle  to  its  true  logical  consequences  by 
agreeing  that  any  border  State  whose  preference  for  our  association  may 
be  doubted  (doubts  having  been  expressed  as  to  the  wishes  of  the  border 
States)  shall  settle  the  question  for  herself,  by  a  convention  to  be  elected 
for  that  purpose,  after  the  withdrawal  of  all  military  forces  of  both  sides 
from  her  limits. 

"  7th.  That  we  believe  that  this  course,  on  the  part  of  our  Government, 
would  constantly  weaken,  and  sooner  or  later  break  down  the  war-power 
of  our  enemy,  by  showing  to' his  people  the  justice  of  our  cause,  our  will 
ingness  to  make  peace  on  the  principles  of  1776,  and  the  shoulders  on 
which  rests  the  responsibility  for  the  continuance  of  the  unnatural  strife ; 
that  it  would  be  hailed  by  our  people  and  citizen- soldiery  who  are  bearing 
the  brunt  of  the  war  as  an  assurance  that  peace  will  not  be  unnecessarily 
delayed,  nor  their  sufferings  unnecessarily  prolonged  ;  and  that  it  would 
be  regretted  by  nobody  on  either  side,  except  men  whose  importance  or 
whose  gains  would  be  diminished  by  peace,  and  men  whose  ambitious 
designs  would  need  cover  under  the  ever-recurring  plea  of  the  necessities 
of  war. 

"  8th.  That  while  the  foregoing  is  an  expression  of  the  sentiments  of 
this  General  Assembly  respecting  the  manner  in  which  peace  should  be 
sought,  we  renew  our  pledges  of  the  resources  and  power  of  this  State  to 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  defensive  on  our  part,  until  peace  is  obtained 
upon  just  and  honorable  terms,  and  until  the  independence  and  nationality 
of  the  Confederate  States  is  established  upon  a  permanent  and  enduring 
basis." 

It  should  be  added  here  that  the  8th  of  the  "  Peace  Resolu 
tions"  was  not  prepared  by  Linton  Stephens,  but  was  offered  as 
an  amendment,  and  adopted. 

April  17th. — (To  Linton.)  "I  see  the  Mississippi  Legislature  has 
unanimously' passed  the  Resolutions  against  habeas  corpus  suspension. 
Have  you  seen  their  Resolutions?  They  are  jam  up  on  our  line.  "What 
will  Mrs.  Grundy  now  say?  Is  Mr.  Davis' s  own  State  in  unanimous 
opposition  to  his  Administration  in  this  particular?  Are  they  all  fac- 
tionists  and  malcontents?" 

Many  of  these  letters  abound  in  comments  on  the  weather,  of 


460  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

which  Mr.  Stephens  was  always  a  curious  observer,  and  of  the 
various  changes  of  which  he  had  a  remarkable  recollection. 
We  give  some  extracts  from  one  as  a  specimen : 

April  18th. — "  This  is  certainly  a  very  late  and  extraordinary  spring. 
I  have  seen  crops  as  late  as  they  are  now;  but  never  did  I  see  the  16th 
of  April  come  with  so  little  start  in  vegetation  generally.  For  instance, 
on  this  day  of  this  month,  in  1849,  I  saw  a  frost  that  killed  everything, — 
wheat  in  the  head,  corn  half-leg-high  (some  of  it  ploughed  over  once), 
young  peaches  as  large  as  the  end  of  your  thumb.  Not  only  the  fruit,  but 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  were  killed,  and  the  whole  forest  was  rendered 
almost  black.  The  leaves  on  all  trees  were  full-grown  when  the  frost 
came.  .  .  .  One  of  the  singular  things  or  facts  to  be  noticed  in  this  spring 
is  that  peach-trees  on  high  land  bloomed  about  as  early  as  they  usually 
do,  while  those  in  the  low  land  held  back  like  the  apple-trees.  The  red 
oaks,  post  oaks,  hickories,  and  black  locusts  in  my  yard  .still  present  a 
wintry  appearance;  the  buds  have  hardly  commenced  to  swell.  The 
Spanish  oak  has  made  more  advance ;  the  buds  show  plainly  on  it,  and 
some  tasselled  blooms  are  to  be  seen.  But  the  forest  still  looks  wintry. 
Such  a  state  of  things  on  the  16th  day  of  April  I  never  saw  before,  and 
I  have  a  distinct  recollection  for  the  last  forty-five  years.  The  latest 
spring  I  ever  saw  before  this,  in  respect  to  planting,  was  in  1843.  All 
March  was  cold  that  year, — big  snows  on  the  19th  and  29th,  succeeded 
by  hard  frosts.  But  when  that  spell  broke  up,  as  it  did  on  the  night  of 
the  31st  of  March,  it  was  in  one  of  the  most  wonderful  thunder-storms 
ever  witnessed  in  this  country,  and  the  more  noted  at  the  time  by  the 
superstitious  from  the  fact  that  that  was  the  day  the  world  was  to  come 
to  an  end,  according  to  the  Millerites,  who  had  been  cutting  some  figure 
for  a  few  years." 

And  so  he  goes  on,  giving  particulars  of  remarkable  springs, 
with  day  and  date  for  each  phenomenon,  running  back  as  far  as 
1826.  Then  criticises  a  performance  of  Blind  Tom,  and  con 
cludes  by  remarking  that  he  expects  frost  in  the  morning,  the 
wind  being  from  the  northwest. 

A  letter  of  about  this  date  recites  some  curious  particulars 
that  he  had  learned  about  the  personal  habits  and  mode  of  liv 
ing  of  Governor  George  M.  Troup,  of  Georgia,  who  wras  quite  a 
celebrity  in  his  day,  and  constituted  his  ideal  of  a  statesman. 

"His  dwelling,  which  he  called  '  Valdosta,'  in  Laurens  County,  con 
sisted,  until  a  few  years  before  his  death,  of  five  log  cabins  built  in  a  row, 
ranging  from  east  to  west.  These  cabins  were  about  fifteen  feet  square, 
and  built  about  ten  feet  apart ;  the  cabins  and  spaces  between  all  covered 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  461 

with  three-feet  boards.  On  each  side  was  a  piazza  running  the  whole 
length  of  the  row  of  cabins ;  and  at  the  eastern  and  western  end  of  the 
row  there  was  a  chimney  made  of  sticks  and  dirt.  There  were  two  doors 
in  all  the  intermediate  cabins,  and  these  faced  each  other,  opening  on  the 
space  between ;  but  no  doors  opening  on  the  piazzas.  The  end  cabins 
had  but  one  door  each,  opening  on  the  space  between  them  and  the  adjoin 
ing  cabin.  There  was  no  window  in  any  of  the  cabins  except  one  small 
one, — about  a  four-glass  light, — on  the  north  side  of  the  east  cabin,  which 
was  the  parlor  or  sitting-room,  and  this  window  opened  by  hinges.  Troup 
generally  sat  near  this  window  in  a  large  mahogany  arm-chair.  There 
was  no  clock,  watch,  or  timepiece  about  his  house,  save  a  sort  of  sun-dial 
that  he  had  made  on  the  floor  of  the  south  piazza.  When  he  wanted 
dinner, — and  it  was  never  served  until  he  called  for  it, — he  would  open 
the  little  window  mentioned,  and  sayr  '  Madison,  let  us  have  dinner.'  He 
had  a  man  cook  named  Madison.  He  lived  by  himself,  except  one  unmar 
ried  daughter,  until  his  son  George  M.  came  home  from  college ;  and  after 
that  George  was  frequently  away  from  home  on  some  of  his  other  planta 
tions,  or  on  visits  and  travels,  so  that  the  old  Governor  and  his  maiden 
daughter  were  generally  by  themselves.  The  logs  of  these  cabins  were 
all  roughly  hewn  with  an  axe,  and  the  cracks  stopped  with  long,  rived 
boards.  There  was  a  floor  laid  on  hewn  joists  overhead  in  all  the  cabins, 
but  no  ceiling,  nor  was  there  any  up-stairs.  The  parlor  had  a  carpet,  and 
the  walls  of  that  room  were  painted  a  deep  green,  the  color  of  forest  leaves. 
The  Governor  had  no  library-room,  though  he  had  a  great  many  books. 
These  were  generally  scattered  about  the  cabins,  the  only  place  for  them 
being  shelves  against  the  walls  in  all  the  rooms.  These  shelves  were  made 
by  two  upright  planks  with  cross  planks.  His  guests  were  put  off  to  sleep 
in  these  rooms  without  any  fire,  and  there  was  no  light  except  when  the 
door  was  opened.  Where  the  Chief  himself  slept  Hitt  did  not  know. 
At  about  the  same  hour  at  night  a  servant  brought  him  something  in  a 
teaspoon,  which  he  took  in  his  hand,  bid  all  good-night,  and  went  to  bed 
somewhere.  ...  In  his  ordinary  dress  he  wore  the  same  cloth  as  his 
negroes.  .  .  .  He  thought  his  place,  Valdosta,  was  the  healthiest  in  the 
world,  and  could  not  be  induced  to  travel  in  the  summer  to  the  up  country, 
for  fear  of  getting  sick.  At  one  time,  speaking  to-Hitt  of  this  subject,  he 
said,  '  I  have  five  hundred  and  ten  in  family, — only  three  whites, — and 
have  not  had  a  death  in  twelve  months.'  .  .  .  His  plan  with  his  negroes 
was  to  require  a  stated  service  from  them,  and  the  remainder  of  the  time 
they  worked  for  themselves.  .  .  .  His  negroes  all  looked  up  to  him  with 
a  devotional  reverence.  .  .  .  Hitt  says  Troup's  negroes  were  the  largest 
corn-sellers  in  Laurens  County ;  the  crops  they  made  for  themselves  were 
corn." 

Several  of  the  letters  refer  to  his  expectation  that  Governor 
Brown  would  offer  Linton  a  place  on  the  bench,  and  his  desire 


462  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

that  the  offer,  if  made,  should  be  accepted.     On  the  5th  of  May 
he  writes: 

"  If  the  Governor  should  tender  you  a  judgeship,  consider  it  well  before 
you  decline.  There  are  many  reasons  why  I  think  you  would  do  well  to 
accept  it.  First  and  foremost  is  the  great  importance  of  having  a  judicial 
decision  on  the  new  Conscript  Act.  But  few,  if  any,  of  the  judges  in  this 
State  considered  that  question ;  and  not  one  of  the  applicants  for  the 
place  in  this  circuit,  I  think.  It  is  important  when  the  case  goes  again 
before  our  Supreme  Court  that  they  should  have  a  decision  to  show  that 
cannot  be  answered.  This  is  really  the  only  consideration  that  would 
control  my  own  action  in  the  matter.  It  would  be  a  sense  of  duty  to  the 
country.  Your  retirement  from  the  Legislature  would  be  a  great  loss 
there ;  but  could  you  not,  and  would  you  not,  in  the  new  sphere,  render 
the  country  quite  as  great,  if -not  greater  and  more  essential  service  in 
this  particular  juncture? — that  is  the  question.  I  do  not  think  there 
would  be  any  difficulty  in  the  confirmation ;  nor  do  I  think  there  will  be 
any  in  your  re-election  to  the  Legislature.  These  are  my  views.  It  is 
only  a  question  as  to  which  place  you  could  render  the  country  most 
efficient  service  in." 

Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  May  12th. — He  is  on  his  way  to 
Richmond  by  rail,  travelling  in  a  passenger  car  attached  to  a 
train  loaded  with  bacon  for  the  army.  After  describing  an 
eccentric  fellow-traveller,  whom,  he  says,  "  Dickens  ought  to 
come  across,"  he  continues  : 

"  About  dark  it  began  to  rain.  I  had  before  discovered  that  there  was 
another  train  following  in  our  rear,  about  five  minutes  behind  us.  I 
inquired  of  the  conductor  about  the  danger  of  being  run  into  in  the  dark, 
and  learned  that  the  only  precaution  was  a  lamp  in  the  rear  of  our  car. 
On  we  went,  making  slow  speed  up  the  grades,  and  dashing  at  a  furious 
rate  down  them.  All  fell  asleep.  I  was  stretched  out  on  two  benches, 
dozing.  The  cars  were  halting, — -jerking  up  a  high  grade.  Presently  I 
felt  a  big  jerk,  and  soon  heard  a  soldier  say,  '  The  cars  have  broken  loose, 
and  we  are  running  back  down  the  grade.'  I  jumped  up,  looked  out,  and 
saw  it  was  so.  Our  speed  was  increasing  rapidly  ;  the  rain  was  pouring, 
and  all  outside  was  dark, — black  as  pitch.  I  went  to  the  rear  end  of  the 
car  to  look  out  for  the  train  behind  us,  and  there  I  found  the  conductor 
standing  with  the  signal-lamp.  No  sign  of  the  other  cars.  The  rain 
pouring,  all  black  with  darkness,  the  cars  gaining  in  speed  every  moment, 
I  woke  up  Hidell  and  Myers ;  this  woke  all  in  the  car.  On  we  went  to 
the  foot  of  the  grade,  about  two  miles,  and  then  we  began  to  ascend.  Our 
speed  now  began  to  slacken, — this  brought  hope  and  relief  to  all.  In 
about  half  a  mile  farther  we  stopped.  I  asked  the  conductor  if  he 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  463 

knew  where  we  were,  or  the  nature  of  the  road  immediately  in  our  rear? 
Were  we  on  a  curve,  or  was  there  a  straight  stretch  on  the  line,  the  rear 
cars  would  come  ?  He  said  it  was  a  straight  stretch  for  a  mile  and  a  half 
to  the  Catawba  River.  This  put  me  at  ease,  and  I  took  my  bed  again. 
Soon  Ilidell,  who  remained  at  the  end  door,  came  and  reported  to  me  that 
the  conductor  was  mistaken, — we  were  on  a  curve.  lie  saw  by  the  light 
ning.  I  went  and  looked,  and  when  it  lightened  saw  that  the  road  could 
not  be  seen  more  than  fifty  yards.  I  looked  for  the  conductor ;  he  was 
gone  and  could  not  be  found:  the  signal-lamp  was  held  by  one  of  the 
train-hands.  Upon  a  survey  of  the  premises  I  discovered  that  the  step  of 
the  car  was  exactly  opposite  a  bridge  across  the  side  ditch.  A  fence  was 
near  the  road,  inclosing  woods  and  a  pair  of  bars  right  opposite  the  little 
bridgeway  across  the  ditch.  So  I  concluded  it  safest  to  get  out.  All  fol 
lowed  except  two  or  three,  who  remained  watching  for  the  approaching 
cars.  We  who  got  out  passed  over  the  bridge,  got  into  the  woods,  and 
just  at  this  time  the  other  train  came  dashing  down  the  grade.  On  it 
came  until  it  turned  the  curve, — the  lantern  man  gave  a  whoop,  left  his 
lantern  standing  where  it  could  be  seen,  and  followed  us.  The  whistle 
instantly  sounded,  all  brakes  were  put  down,  and  the  engine  reversed. 
The  train  halted  within  the  distance,  and  no  harm  was  done.  Our  engine 
came  back  for  us  after  awhile.  We  all  got  off  in  the  course  of  an  hour, 
and  reached  here  at  the  time  stated. 

"  No  definite  news  from  Richmond  this  morning,  and  no  news  at  all 
from  Dulton."  [At  this  time  Grant  was  moving  on  Richmond  from  the 
North  with  about  one  hundred  thousand  men,  while  Butler,  with  about 
thirty  thousand,  was  approaching  by  way  of  Petersburg.  Sigel,  with 
about  ten  thousand,  and  Crook,  with  about  six  thousand,  were  operating 
in  Lee's  rear.  This  movement  of  Grant's  was  baffled  by  Lee  in  the  battles 
of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania  Court-House,  North  Anna,  and  Cold 
Harbor.  The  movement  of  Butler  was  arrested  by  Beauregard,  and  the 
Federal  commander  '•  bottled  up"  at  Bermuda  Hundreds.  Crook  and 
Sigel  were  routed  by  Breckenridge  at  New,  Market.  Sherman,  with  a 
force  of  about  two  hundred  thousand,  was  moving  upon  Atlanta,  but  was 
checked  at  Dalton,  Georgia,  and  thwarted  for  months  by  the  superior  gen 
eralship  of  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  with  a  force  of  about  forty-five  thousand.] 
"  No  news  I  am  always  inclined  to  look  upon  as  bad  news.  I  am  uneasy 
about  the  state  of  affairs  at  both  points,  Dalton  and  Richmond.  I  am  fearful 
that  our  authorities  have  under-estimated  Grant's  force.  If  he  has  two 
hundred  thousand,  as  I  think  he  must  have,  it  seems  to  me  that  if  he  has 
disposed  of  them  as  he  might  have  done,  we  must  be  in  great  peril  there. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  he  brought  against  Lee  eighty  thousand, — about 
Lee's  number,  perhaps, — and  suppose  he  landed  twenty  thousand  on  the 
Rappahannock  below  Predericksburg,  and  fifty  thousand  at  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Pamunkey,  and  fifty  thousand  near  City  Point.  Sup 
pose  his  object  in  attacking  Lee  was  to  detain  him,  skirmish  with  him  for 


464  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

four  or  five  days  as  he  was  making  his  way  down  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Rappahannock  to  Fredericksburg,  while  the  twenty  thousand  were  moving 
up  to  reinforce  him  if  he  should  be  hard  pressed,  and  while  the  fifty  thou 
sand  landed  at  West  Point  or  higher  up  were  moving  up  on  the  south  side 
of  the  South  Anna  towards  Beaver  Dam  and  the  Central  Railroad,  thus 
putting  fifty  thousand  men  between  Lee  and  Richmond,  and  cutting  off 
Lee's  supplies  by  railroad,  on  which  he  is  solely  dependent, — then  his 
army,  or  what  remains  of  it,  say  at  least  fifty  thousand,  reinforced  by  the 
twenty  thousand  coming  up  the  river,  could  easily  join  the  other  fifty 
thousand  between  Lee  and  Richmond,  making  in  all  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand,  most  of  them  fresh  troops,  to  face  Lee's  reduced  and 
fatigued  forces.  In  the  mean  time,  the  fifty  thousand  at  or  about  City 
Point  would  hold  Beauregard,  with  not  over  fifty  thousand,  in  complete 
check.  If  Grant  has  adopted  any  such  programme  as  this,  it  seems  to  me 
that  we  are  in  great  peril ;  and  if  he  has  not,  he  is  not  the  military  chief 
tain  he  is  asserted  to  be.  I  am  anxious.  I  hope  all  will  end  well.  Lee 
is  a  man  of  great  ability  ;  but  Bragg  is  controlling  everything  at  Richmond 
now." 

Reidsville,  North  Carolina,  May  16th. — He  is  again  interrupted 
on  his  journey,  the  railroad  between  Danville  and  Richmond 
having  been  cut  by  the  enemy.  He  came  over  in  an  ambulance, 
called  "avalanche'7  by  John,  the  negro  driver,  of  whom  he 
gives  a  facetious  account. 

"  He  is  a  philosopher  in  his  way,  and  not  destitute  of  wit.  One  of  his 
peculiarities  is  a  standing  phrase  used  in  giving  his  estimate  of  men.  In 
stead  of  speaking  of  them  as  '  great  men,'  or  '  little  men,'  his  phrase  was 
'a  heavy  dog'  and  'a  light  dog.'  'John,  do  you  know  Governor  More- 
head  ?'  '  Oh,  yes,  sir.'  '  What  sort  of  a  man  is  he  ?'  '  Oh,  sir,  he  is  a  heavy 
dog:  one  of  the  heaviest  dogs,  sir,  we  have.'  'Who  keeps  the  tavern  at 

Reidsville  where  we  are  going  to  stop  ?'  '  His  name  is  L ,  sir.'  '  What 

sort  of  a  man  is  he,  John?'  'Oh,  he  is  just  a  common  dog,  sir.  He  is 
taking  a  rise  since  the  war  began, — is  making  lots  of  money  now.  He 
keeps  a  good  house ;  plenty  to  eat ;  is  very  kind,  and  will  treat  you  like  a 
gentleman.  He  is  very  well-to-do  in  the  world, — is  a  fair  common  dog, — 
not  one  of  your  heavy  dogs ;  but  if  the  war  lasts  and  he  keeps  raking  in 
the  money  in  the  way  he  has  been  raking  it  in  for  some  time,  and  it  only 
turns  out  good,  he  will  be  a  heavy  dog  himself  before  long.  If  what  he 
has  made  was  only  the  heavy  stuff  money  used  to  be,  he  would  be  a  heavy 
dog  now.' " 

John  tells  how  a  short  time  before  he  drove  General  Beaure 
gard  over  to  take  the  cars. 

"  '  What  did  you  think  of  General  Beauregard  ?'  '  I  never  was  so  disap 
pointed  in  a  man  in  my  life.'  'Why?'  'He  was  so  blamed  plain  and 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  465 

ornary-looking.  I  'spected  to  see  a  great  fine-looking  man,  with  gold  lace 
and  buttons  and  epaulettes,  and  some  sort  of  a  hat, — I  did  not  know  what. 
But  when  I  saw  the  man  they  said  was  General  Beauregard,  I  wouldn't  'a' 
believed  it  if  they  hadn't  told  me.  Indeed,  I  didn't  believe  it  anyhow, 
until  I  saw  the  ladies  shaking  him  by  the  hand  and  making  such  a  to-do 
over  him.'  'What  was  the  matter  with  him  ?'  '  Oh,  he  was  so  plain  in  his 
clothes,  and  looked  so  like  common  folks.  He  had  no  epaulettes,  no  buttons, 
no  stripes,  no  stars,  no  lace, — nothing  but  a  shabby  hat,  and  his  clothes  all 
looked  old  and  worn.'  " 

Various  "  dots  by  the  way/'  as  he  calls  them,  follow  from 
Reidville  and  Danville.  At  the  latter  place  he  was  again 
stopped  by  a  railroad  accident, — one  train  ran  into  another  on  a 
bridge,  killed  several  soldiers,  and  broke  the  bridge, — and  find 
ing  that,  owing  to  the  state  of  the  roads  and  the  movements  of 
the  enemy,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  to  Richmond,  he 
resolved  to  return.  At  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  he  resumes 
his  "  dots/'  from  which  we  shall  give  an  extract  or  two  as  giving 
an  idea  of  the  state  of  the  railroads  and  difficulty  of  travelling 
in  this  region. 

May  23d. — "  As  notified  by  the  conductor  of  the  trains  on  the  Piedmont 
Road,  I  appeared  at  the  depot  to  start  for  Greensboro',  North  Carolina,  a 
little  before  one  o'clock  P.M.  .  .  .  The  day  was  hot  and  sultry, — no  sign 
of  any  train  in  readiness,  or  any  conductor.  Remained  for  two  hours, — 
no  sign  of  making  ready  to  start.  Another  hour  passes.  A  train  is 
brought  out,  and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  Yankee  prisoners  marched  out 
to  be  put  on  it.  All  the  cars  filled  with  prisoners, — the  tops  of  the  cars 
fillexl.  Another  train  brought  out,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  more  Yankee 
prisoners  marched  out  and  put  in.  At  the  end  of  this  train  a  passenger- 
car  is  attached,  all  the  others  and  all  the  cars  of  the  first  train  being  box 
cars.  My  conductor  appears ;  apologizes  for  his  delay, — had  not  control 
of  the  trains, — under  Government  officers ;  but  we  would  get  off  in  this 
last  train  in  half  an  hour.  Takes  me  to  the  car  and  gives  me  u  good  seat. 
Baggage  put  on.  I  walk  out  on  the  platform  before  the  car  leaves.  A 
great  number  of  wounded  soldiers  standing  about  trying  to  get  passage 
home:  some  with  bandages  on  the  head,  some  with  arms  in  slings,  and 
some  on  crutches.  In  reply  to  their  questions  the  conductor  says  they 
cannot  go, — they  must  wait  until  to-morrow.  Great  murmuring  in  the 
crowd :  '  They  had  been  there  two  days  waiting  and  without  money.' — 
'  No  more  care  or  thought  is  given  to  a  wounded  soldier  than  if  he  were  a 
dog,' — such  exclamations  were  common.  I  stepped  up  to  one  poor  fellow 
who  had  his  arm  in  a  sling:  'Are  you  from  the  army?'  'Yes,  sir.' 
'What  regiment?'  'Twenty-fifth  Georgia.1  'What  is  your  name?' 

30 


466  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

4  Roberts.'  '  At  what  place  were  you  wounded?'  '  I  was  wounded  in  the 
Wilderness,  the  first  day's  fight.'  '  Can  you  tell  me  anything  about  the 
other  wounded  or  killed  in  the  regiment?'  'No,  sir;  I  was  wounded 
about  the  first  of  the  action,  and  sent  back  to  Orange  Court-House. ' 

"  I  take  my  seat  in  the  car, — the  man  with  a  gun  at  the  door  lets  me  in. 
On  this  quite  a  number  of  the  wounded  soldiers  get  in  at  the  windows. 
Conductor  comes  and  makes  them  get  out, — they  complain  bitterly.  Some 
one  tells  them,  I  suppose,  that  I  was  the  Vice-President,  for  I  hear  some 
vociferous  fellow  say  aloud,  in  a  passion,  '  I'll  be  d — d  if  I  don't  go ;  I  am 
as  good  as  the  Vice-President !'  Time  rolls  on, — the  Yankee  train  rolls  off. 
Half-past  five  comes, — the  conductor  tells  the  wounded  about  the  car  that 
as  many  as  can  fill  the  car  may  go, — that  the  worst  cases  should  have 
preference.  The  car  is  soon  full.  Those  outside  look  sad, — the  conductor 
tells  them  that  a  train  will  leave  at  eight  o'clock  and  take  them  all.  This 
pacifies  them.  By  the  by,  when  I  had  seen  the  state  of  things,  I  had  gone 
to  see  Major  Morphet,  who  had  come  down  in  charge  of  the  prisoners, 
whom  I  knew,  and  who  had  charge  of  the  trains,  and  urged  upon  him  to  . 
send  the  wounded  soldiers  forward  as  soon  as  possible.  Among  the  loudest 
complaints  they  were  making  was  one  that  the  Yankees  should  be  sent  on 
before  them.  Some  of  them  swore  in  their  wrath  that  the  Yankees  ought 
to  be  killed ;  but  instead  of  that  they  were  cared  more  for  than  the  men 
who  had  been  wounded  in  defending  their  country.  I  was  truly  sorry  for 
them.  .  .  .  Our  train  rolled  off  at  last.  We  had  forty-eight  miles  to  go. 
and  the  conductor  told  me  we  should  get  there,  or  were  due,  at  nine  o'clock. 
But  it  was  three  when  we  got  to  Greensboro'.  The  water  on  the  road  had 
given  out,  and  the  hands  had  to  haul  it  up  with  buckets  at  the  creeks  and 
branches.  .  .  .  Soon  after  starting,  a  soldier  looking  very  weak  and  sick, 
and  much  emaciated,  passed  by  me,  looking  for  a  seat.  The  conductor 
had  given  me  a  seat  to  myself,  so  I  touched  the  soldier  and  told  him  to 
take  a  seat  by  me.  He  did  so  with  a  good  deal  of  modesty  as  well  as 
thankfulness.  He  evidently,  from  his  manner,  knew  who  I  was.  He 
seemed  to  be  sick  and  not  wounded.  '  Do  you  belong  to  the  army?'  said 
I.  '  Yes,  sir,'  he  replied,  looking  steadily  but  timidly  in  my  face,  when 
for  the  first  time  I  saw  he  was  a  mere  boy.  'What  regiment?'  'The 
Fifteenth  Georgia.'  'What's  your  name?'  'Noel  Monroe  Humphrey. 
I  live  in  Hancock  County,  but  joined  the  Taliaferro  company  last  winter. 
Don't  you  recollect  the  night  that  Ed.  Johnson  and  all  of  us  took  supper 
at  your  house? — that's  the  time  I  joined.  I  was  going  on  then.  I  got  to 
the  company  and  was  taken  sick, — was  sent  back  to  the  hospital  at  Liberty, 
•Virginia,  where  I  have  been  ever  since,  until  last  week  they  furloughed 
me.  I  have  been  here  three  days  trying  to  get  on.  but  couldn't.'  .  .  .  The 
poor  fellow  looked  very  badly.  I  recollected  all  about  his  stopping  at  my 
house  and  taking  supper.  On  my  asking  him  if  he  had  any  money,  he 
said  he  had  not  a  cent.  I  asked  him  h6w  he  got  along  for  something  to 
eat.  The  only  chance,  he  said,  was  at  the  wayside  houses.  I  asked  him 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

if  he  had  had  anything  that  day.  Nothing  since  breakfast,  as  he  had  been 
waitino-  ever  since  twelve  for  the  train  to  start.  I  asked  him  if  he  was  not 

tD 

hungry  ;  he  said  he  was.  I  hauled  out  my  basket  and  gave  him  as  much 
as  he  wanted.  Seeing  others  about  looking  anxiously  on,  I  passed  the 
basket  round, — about  half  a  dozen  ate  up  what  was  laid  in  for  our  travel 
ling  lunch  for  some  days.  I  was  sorry  I  did  not  have  enough  for  all. 
Among  those  who  did  get  some,  I  noticed  a  sprightly-looking  fourteen-year- 
old  boy,  who  said  he  was  from  Marion  County.  .  .  . 

"  At  Winsboro'  three  ladies  and  a  young  gentleman  got  in. — the  young 
gentleman  of  a  pale,  rather  sallow,  complexion.  I  was  half  asleep,  but 
heard  the  young  gentleman  whisper,  '  The  Vice-President  is  aboard.' 
'  Which  is  he?'  asks  one  of  the  ladies  in  a  whisper  ; — 'that  man  there? 
that  little  man?'  'No,  that  one  on  the  seat  right  behind  you.'  'This 
little  man?'  says  she,  in  a  very  low  voice.  I  heard  no  reply,  but  heard 
her  utter  a  guttural  sound  that  you  are  well  acquainted  with,  but  I  know 
not  how  to  write  or  spell.  It  was  all  guttural,  and  may  be  imagined  from 
my  expressing  it  as  well  as  I  can  with  the  letters  '  eh  en' — with  the  French 
sound  of  the  en.  I  opened  my  eyes  and  thought  she  was  laughing.  I 
felt  badly ;  not  at  my  own  bad  looks,  but  at  the  great  disappointment  I 
had  caused  one  of  my  constituents." 

Throughout  the  whole  of  these  letters  there  are  frequent  allu 
sions  to  his  ill  health  and  sufferings,  but  never  in  any  tone  of 
fretfulness  or  complaint.  He  is  much  more  anxious  about  his 
brother's  health  than  his  own. 

Jane  23d. — (ToR.  M.  J.)  "  My  disease  is  constantly  shifting.  .  .  .  Poor 
Tithonus !  While  I  never  did  believe  that  story  about  him,  Aurora,  and 
the  grasshopper,  yet  part  of  the  fable  is  certainly  applicable  to  me, — pre 
mature  old  age  and  infirmity.  I  am  in  very  much  the  same  condition, 
constitutionally,  with  our  country.  You  ask  me  about  that.  In  my 
opinion  it  is  just  as  I  am,  on  the  decline.  Mains,  pejor,  pessimus.  applies 
to  the  state  of  public  affairs  as  well  as  to  myself.  If  either  the  country 
or  I  should  have  great  length  of  days,  from  present  indications,  the  fate 
of  Tithonus  will  not  be  inapplicable  in  many  respects.  ...  I  feel  intense 
interest  and  anxiety  about  the  condition  of  things  in  Virginia  and  Upper 
Georgia.  If  we  can  but  hold  our  own  for  six  months  longer,  I  shall  then 
indulge  stronger  hopes  than  I  can  possibly  feel  now.  I  think  Johnston 
acts  wisely  in  not  hazarding  his  army  in  a  fight,  if  this  be  his  reason  for 
falling  back  as  he  has  done.  Unless  he  has  the  prospect  of  doing  the 
enemy  a  great  injury  by  crippling  and  routing  them,  he  should  avoid  an 
encounter  of  arms  as  long  as  possible.  Temporary  invasion  is  not  con 
quest.  The  loss  of  property  may  be  great,  the  devastation  appalling  ; 
still,  so  long  as  our  army  is  preserved  the  work  of  the  enemy  is  unaccom 
plished.  We  may  all  be  subjected  to  privations  and  sacrifices ;  these  can 
be  borne,  not  only  for  six  months,  but  for  years,  if  the  right  spirit  is  kept 


468  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

alive  with  our  people.      This  depends  as  much  upon  the  policy  of  the 
Administration  as  anything  else;  indeed,  I  believe  more." 

When  the  following  letter  was  written  Sherman's  advance 
had  just  been  repulsed  by  Johnston  at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  but 
the  Federal  commander's  great  superiority  in  numbers  enabled 
him  to  turn  Johnston's  flank  and  continue  his  march  to  Atlanta. 

June  28th.— (To  R.  M.  J.)  "Without  fail  come  by  to  see  me.  I  have 
some  old  papers  that  I  wish  to  hand  you.  Whether  you  or  I  live  longer 
in  the  contingencies  of  war,  they  may  be  safer  in  your  hands,  or  where 
you  may  put  them,  than  they  would  be  here.  Should  the  enemy  make 
incursions  into  the  interior  of  our  State  (which  I  do  not  think  improbable, 
whatever  may  be  my  hopes  that  they  may  not),  this  place  would  probably 
be  in  their  line  of  march  towards  Augusta.  In  that  case,  of  course,  my 
house  would  be  rifled.  ...  I  am  still  feeble,  but  better  than  when  I  wrote 
you  last.  I  am  confined  pretty  much  to  the  house.  It  is  too  hot  for  me 
to  go  out:  I  cannot  even  drive  to  the  plantation." 

August  29th. — "  This  is  Monday,  the  great  day  at  Chicago.  I  feel  a 
deep  interest  as  well  as  anxiety  to  know  what  will  be  done  there.  Very 
great  events  depend  upon  it.  I  saw  yesterday  in  the  Chronicle  and  Senti 
nel  Gilmer's  account  of  his  and  Colonel  Jaques's  interview  with  President 
Davis  and  Mr.  Benjamin.  It  is  a  curious  paper.  The  whole  interview 
was  a  curious  affair :  I  hardly  know  what  to  make  of  it.  If  this  paper 
was  drawn  up  by  Gilmer,  it  is  a  still  more  curious  aifair.  It  is  really 
difficult  to  discern  whether  the  paper  as  it  stands  is  calculated  or  intended 
to  do  more  damage  to  one  party  or  side  than  to  the  other.  How  he  should 
have  presented  our  side  so  favorably,  upon  the  whole,  is  strange  to  me. 
Only  on  one  or  two  [points]  has  the  paper  failed  to  present  us  as  strongly, 
in  the  main,  as  it  could  have  done.  One  of  them  is  when  Davis  went  off 
upon  the  subject  of  majorities.  The  strength  of  our  position  on  that  point 
is  that  the  old  Government  was  no-t,  nor  is  the  present  one,  a  government 
of  majorities.  It  is  a  government  of  States — separate  and  denned — not 
merged  in  any  sort  of  unlimited  unity  as  a  single  community  ;  and  does 
not  present  a  case  for  the  will  of  the  majority  of  a  community  to  govern. 
This  idea  faintly  appears,  but  is  not  presented  strongly.  It  is  not  true, 
either,  that  two  million  slaves  have  been  emancipated, — at  least  I  think 
that  admission  is  an  exaggeration. 

"  Sometimes  I  think  this  paper  may  have  been  agreed  upon, — that  both 
parties,  before  separation,  agreed  upon  the  substance  of  the  interview  that 
should  go  to  the  country.  This  is  a  bare  supposition  ;  but  the  whole  mat 
ter,  in  any  view  I  can  place  it,  is  a  strange  affair.  But  every  day  passing 
events  confirm  me  more  and  more  in  the  opinion  that  Georgia  started  all 
these  peace  agitations,  and  particularly  the  idea  of  the  Sovereignty  of  the 
as  the  basis  of  peace.  Dodd's  speech  is  directly  on  the  line  laid 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  469 

down  ia  the  Georgia  Peace  Resolutions.     These  Resolutions  are  as  bread 
cast  upon  the  waters." 

September  4th. — "  The  Chicago  Convention  did  not  do  as  well  as  I  hoped 
they  would,  and  as  I  think  they  would  have  done  if  our  authorities  had 
backed  the  leading  peace  men  there  from  the  beginning,  as  they  should 
have  done.  Still,  I  am  not  without  hope  that  good  will  result  from  their 
action.  The  prospect  for  the  early  dawn  of  the  day  of  peace  is  not  so 
good  as  it  would  have  been  if  an  out-and-out  peace  man  had  been  nomi 
nated  on  an  out-and-out  peace  platform.  Still,  under  the  circumstances, 
it  may  be  that  many  of  the  real  advocates  of  peace  on  the  basis  of  a  sepa 
ration  of  the  States  thought  it  best  to  pursue  the  course  they  have,  which, 
in  their  judgment,  will  ultimately  lead  to  the  same  result.  I  think  they 
made  a  mistake.  Still,  they  may  be  better  informed  as  to  the  state  of  the 
popular  mind  at  the  North  than  I  am.  They  may  have  thought  it  was 
hazarding  too  much  to  submit  the  naked  question  of  separation  to  the 
people  there  now,  and,  moreover,  it  may  be  that  while  a  large  majority  of 
that  body  would  to-day  be  for  separation  rather  than  a  continuation  of 
the  war,  yet  the  same  majority  would  greatly  prefer  a  restoration  of  the 
Union  with  every  fair  and  just  guaranty  to  the  South  if  such  restoration 
can  be  effected.  And  it  may  be  that  they  felt  it  a  patriotic  duty  with 
these  views  to  make  the  effort;  while  at  the  same  time  they  are  prepared, 
if  the  effort  fails,  to  have  peace  eve.n_iipou,  the  basis  of  ultimate  separation. 


This  is  my  reading  aneTUnderstanding  of  their  action,  knowing  as  I  do 
the  sentiments  of  several  men  who  would  give  that  action  their  sanction. 
This  idea,  I  think,  is  about  this:  we  will  first  elect  McClellan  if  possible, 
und  in  order  to  do  this  we  will  put  ourselves  upon  the  most  plausible  plat 
form  entirely  consistent  with  the  dictates  of  the  highest  patriotism  work 
ing  to  a  restoration  of  the  Government  in  its  pristine  purity.  If  we  elect 
McClellan  on  this  platform,  we  will  then  do  everything  that  can  be  done  by 
the  most  patriotic  efforts  to  effect  such  a  restoration  by  negotiation,  not  by 
a-rms.  If  that  fail,  then  we  will  take  peace  as  the  last  alternative  on  the 
basis  of  separation.  This  is"  my  rendering  of  their  action.  For  their  plat 
form  is  out  and  out  for  a  suspension -of  hostilities,— for  opening  negotia 
tions, — and  if  they  fail  of  restoring  the  Union,  their  platform  stops  them 
from  a  return  to  a  coercive  policy.  So,  upon  the  whole,  if  our  authorities 
commit  no  blunders,  all  may  yet  be  well.  ^But^vvjiD-aan  count  upon  any 
thing  that  depends  upon  the  contingency  that  our  authorities  will  commit 
no  blunders?" 

On  the  14th  of  this  month  Mr.  Stephens  received  a  letter 
from  some  gentlemen  of  Georgia,  desiring  his  views  on  the 
question  whether  it  was  not  possible  and  expedient  to  begin 
some  movement  looking  to  the  establishment  of  peace.  His 
letter  in  reply,  which  was  made  public,  attracted  much  atten 
tion,  and  gave  occasion  for  much  misrepresentation  of  Mr. 


470  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   PL   STEPHENS. 

Stephens's  views  and   position.     In   reference  to  the  basis  on 
which  peace  should  be  sought,  he  says  in  this  letter:  • 

"  The  Resolutions  of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  at  its  last  session,  upon 
tire  subject  of  peace,  in  my  judgment,  embodied  and  set  forth  very  clearly 
those  principles  upon  which  alone  there  can  be  permanent  peace  between 
the  diiferent  sections  of  this  extensive,  once  happy  and  prosperous,  but 
now  distracted  country.  The  easy  and  perfect  solution  to  all  our  present 
troubles,  and  those  far  more  grievous  ones  which  loom  up  in  prospect  and 
portentously  threaten  in  the  coining  future,  is  nothing  more  than  the  sim 
ple  recognition  of  the  fundamental  principle  and  truth  upon  which  all 
American  constitutional  liberty  is  founded,  and  upon  the  maintenance  of 
which  alone  it  can  be  preserved  ;  that  is,  the  sovereignty — the  ultimate, 
absolute  sovereignty — of  the  States.  This  doctrine  our  Legislature  an 
nounced  to  the  people  of  the  North  and  to  the  world.  It  is  the  only  key 
note  to  peace — permanent,  lasting  peace — consistent  with  the  security  of 
public  liberty.  The  old  Confederation  was  formed  upon  this  principle. 
The  old  Union  was  afterwards  formed  upon  this  principle ;  and  no  union 
or  league  can  ever  be  formed  or  maintained  between  any  States.  North  or 
South,  securing  public  liberty  upon  any  other  principle.  The  whole  frame 
work  of  American  institutions,  which  in  so  short  a  time  had  won  the 
admiration  of  the  world,  and  to  which  we  were  indebted  for  such  an 
unparalleled  career  of  prosperity  and  happiness,  was  formed  upon  this 
principle.  AJ!_pjir_.^p^«errtr  troubles  spring  from  a  departure  from  this 
principle;  from  a  violation  of  this  essential,  vital  law  of  our  political 
organism.  In  1776  our  ancestors  and  the  ancestors  of  those  who  are 
waging  this  unholy  crusade  against  us  proclaimed  the  great  and  eternal 
truth,  for  the  maintenance  of  which  they  jointly  pledged  their  lives,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor,  that  '  governments  are  instituted  amongst 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed  :'  and 
that  '  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  those  ends 
[for  which  it  was  formed],  it  is  the  right  of  tjie  people  to  alter  or  abolish 
it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  foundations  on  such  prin 
ciples,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.' 

"It  is  needless  here  to  state  that  by  'people'  and  'governed'  in  this 
annunciation  is  meant  communities  and  bodies  of  men  capable  of  organ 
izing  and  maintaining  government,  not  individual  members  of  society. 
'  The  consent  of  the  governed'  refers  to  the  will  of  the  mass  of  the  com 
munity  or  State  in  its  organized  form,  and  expressed  through  its  legitimate 
and  properly-constituted  organs.  It  was  upon  this  principle  the  colonies 
stood  justified  before  the  world  in  effecting  a  separation  from  the  mother- 
country.  It  was  upon  this  principle  that  the  original  thirteen  co-equal 
and  co-sovereign  States  formed  the  Federal  compact  of  the  old  Union  in 
1787.  It  is  upon  the  same"  principle  that  the  present  co-equal  and  co- 
sovereign  States  of  our  Confederacy  formed  their  new  compact  of  union. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  471 

'The  idea  that  the  old  Union,  or  any  union  between  any  of  the  sovereign 
States,  consistently  with  this  fundamental  truth,  can  be  maintained  by 
force,  is  preposterous.  This  war  springs  from  an  attempt  to  do  this  pre 
posterous  thing.  Superior  power  may  compel  a  union  of  some  sort;  but 
it  would  not  be  the  Union  of  the  old  Constitution  nor  of  our  new :  it 
would  be  that  sort  of  union  that  results  from  despotism.  /The  subjugation 
of  the  pe'ople  of  the  South  by  the  people  of  the  North  would  necessarily 
involve  the  destruction  of  the  Constitution  and  the  overthrow  of  their 
liberties  as  well  as  ours.  The  men  or  party  at  the  North,  to  whom  you 
refer,  who  favor  peace,  must  be  brought  to  a  full  realization  of  this  truth 
in  all  its  bearings  before  their  efforts  will  result  in  much  practical  good  ; 
for  any  peace  growing  out  of  a  union  of  the  States  established  by  force 
will  be  as  ruinous  to  them  as  to  us." 

After  speaking  with  some  hopefulness  of  the  results  which 
might  possibly  spring  from  the  action  of  the  Chicago  Conven 
tion,  and  with  approbation  of  the  idea  of  a  suspension  of 
hostilities  during  which  delegates  from  all  the  States  might 
assemble  to  devise  some  plan  of  adjustment  to  be  submitted  to 
the  several  States  for  their  ratification,  he  emphasizes  the  impor 
tance  of  a  watchful  guardianship  of  liberty,  always  in  peril  in 
times  of  war  and  revolution,  and  only  to  be  maintained  by  a 
firm  adherence  to  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  established. 
"  The  chief  aid  and  encouragement  we  can  give  the  peace  party 
at  the  North,  is  to  keep  before  them  these  great  fundamental 
principles  and  truths  which  alone  will  lead  them  and  us  to  a 
permanent  and  lasting  peace,  with  the  possession  and  enjoyment  , 
of  constitutional  liberty/' 

About  this  time  General  Sherman,  who  had  taken  Atlanta 
(September  2d),  and  was  about  to  set  out  on  that  march  across 
the  State,  in  which,  as  he  characteristically  expressed  it  in  his 
despatches,  he  was  to  "  make  Georgia  howl,"*  and  "  make  its 
inhabitants  feel  that  war  and  individual  ruin  are  synonymous 
terms,"  conceived  the  idea  of  having  an  interview  with  Mr. 
Stephens.  In  his  published  despatch  to  General  Hal  leek,  of 
September  15th,  he  says  that  he  has  sent  "a  hearty  invitation" 
to  that  gentleman  and  to  Governor  Brown.  This  invitation  was 

*  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War.  Supp.  I.  (The  reader  is  particularly  re 
ferred  to  these  remarkable  despatches,  in  which  both  the  text  and  the  breaks 
in  the  text  are  alike  instructive.) 


472  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

verbal,  and  the  cause  of  it  was  stated  to  be  the  truly  noble  and 
humane  desire  to  devise  some  plan  for  terminating  the  war 
without  further  bloodshed.  Mr.  Stephens,  however  willing  to 
concur  in  such  an  object,  desired  something  more  than  a  mere 
verbal  message,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  answer  to  General  Sher 
man's  intermediary : 

u  CRAWFORDVILLE,  GEORGIA,  October  1st,  1864. 
"  WM.  KING,  ESQ.  : 

"  SIR, — I  have  considered  the  message  you  delivered  me  yesterday  from 
General  Sherman  with  all  the  seriousness  and  gravity  due  the  importance 
of  the  subject.  That  message  was  a  verbal  invitation  by  him  through  you 
to  me  to  visit  him  at  Atlanta,  to  see  if  we  could  agree  upon  some  plan  of 
terminating  this  fratricidal  war  without  the  further  effusion  of  blood.  The 
object  is  one  which  addresses  itself  with  peculiar  interest  and  great  force 
to  every  well-wisher  of  his  country, — to  every  friend  of  humanity, — to 
every  patriot, — to  every  one  attached  to  the  principles  of  self-government, 
established  by  our  common  ancestors.  I  need  not  assure  you,  therefore, 
that  it  is  an  object  very  dear  to  me, — there  is  no  sacrifice  I  would  not 
make,  short  of  principle  and  honor,  to  obtain  it,  and  no  effort  would  I 
spare,  under  the  same  limitations,  with  reasonable  or  probable  prospect 
of  success. 

,"-•"  But,  in  the  present  instance,  the  entire  absence  of  any  power  on  my 
part  to  enter  into  such  negotiations,  and  the  like  absence  of  any  such 
power  on  his  part,  so  far  as  appears  from  his  message,  necessarily  precludes 
\  my  acceptance  of  the  invitation  thus  tendered.  In  communicating  this  to 
General  Sherman,  you  may  also  say  to  him  that  if  he  is  of  opinion  that 
there  is  any  prospect  of  our  agreeing  upon  terms  of  adjustment  to  be 
submitted  to  the  action  of  our  respective  Governments,  even  though  he 
has  no  power  to  act  in  advance  in  the  premises,  and  will  make  this  known 
to  me  in  some  formal  and  authoritative  manner  (being  so  desirous  for 
peace  himself,  as  you  represent  him  to  have  expressed  himself),  I  would 
most  cheerfully  and  willingly,  with  the  consent  of  our  authorities,  accede 
to  his  request  thus  manifested,  and  enter  with  all  the  earnestness  of  my 
nature  upon  the  responsible  and  arduous  task  of  restoring  peace  and  har 
mony  to  the  country,  upon  principles  of  honor,  right,  and  justice  to  all 
parties.  This  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  at  all  impossible,  if  truth  and 
reason  should  be  permitted  to  have  their  full  sway. 

"  Yours  most  respectfully, 

"ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 

October  2d. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  "I  was  very  much  pleased  with  Governor 
Brown's  reply  to  the  message  of  Sherman.  As  to  the  prospects  of  peace, 
they  do  not  appear  so  hopeful  to  me  as  when  I  wrote  to  you  last  on  the 
subject,  soon  after  the  Chicago  nomination,  and  before  McClellan's  letter 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  473 

of  acceptance.  That  letter,  I  think,  will  greatly  lessen  his  chances  of 
election,  and  it  also  weakens  any  hopes  of  peace  at  an  early  day,  even  in 
case  he  should  be  elected.  Still,  I  should  prefer  his  election  to  that  of 
Lincoln.  He  will,  or  would,  of  course,  suspend  hostilities  and  try  negotia 
tion.  Efforts  failing  in  that  line,  he  would  renew  the  war  for  the  restora 
tion  of  the  Union  and  the  old  Constitution  with  all  its  guaranties.  These 
include  the  perpetuation  of  slavery.  Whenever  the  war  assumes  this 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  North,  England  will  no  longer  be  silent.  She 
will  recognize  us.  France  and  other  powers  will  join.  With  our  recog 
nition  abroad,  the  moral  power  of  the  war  at  the  North  will  be  greatly 
crippled.  Peace  after  awhile  will  follow.  The  position  of  England  and 
France  for  the  last  two  years  is  owing  to  their  strong  desire  to  have 
slavery  exterminated.  I  believe  Lincoln's  emancipation  policy  was  dic 
tated  by  England.  He  was  told  if  the  war  had  no  great  object  in  view  in 
aid  of  the  progress  of  civilization  and  Christianity,  such,  for  instance,  as 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  as  they  viewed  it,  recognition  would  take  place. 
Lincoln  was  compelled  to  issue  his  emancipation  proclamation,  or  witness 
immediate  foreign  recognition  after  the  battles  of  Richmond  in,  1862;  and 
whenever  the  war  is  renewed,  if  that  should  be  the  case,  with  a  view  to 
continue  the  old  Union,  Constitution,  and  slavery,  England  will  no  longer 
regard  it  as  a  war  for  any  high  and  noble  purpose,  but  as  a  war  for  subju 
gation  and  havoc,  and  she  will  say  it  must  be  stopped." 

October  9th. —  (To  Linton.)  After  referring  to  a  published 
letter,  in  which  the  writer  expressed  his  views  that  the  people  of 
the  Confederacy  were  living  "under  a  complete  despotism,  worse 
than  Lincoln's/7  but  that  such  a  state  of  things  was  a  necessary 
result  of  their  position,  Mr.  Stephens  remarks : 

"This  is  the  great  mistake  which  has  deluded  thousands^  Despotism  is 
not  necessary  to  put  into  active  operation  the  maximum  of  military  power 
of  any  nation  or  people?)  What  nation  in  modern  times  has  put  forth 
greater  military  energy  than  Great  Britain?  My  opinion  is  that  our  in 
stitutions,  even  freer  in  their  organic  law,  are  capable  of  calling  forth  and 
putting  into  exercise  quite  as  great  a  maximum  of  military  power^as 
England,  and  without  the  sacrifice  of  a  single  constitutional  right.  CA11 
that  is  wanting  are  brains  and  integrity  in  properly  administering  and 
working  the  machinery  of  Government.^} 

"This  idea  that  any  amendment  to  the' Constitution  is  necessary  before 
there  can  be  called  a  convention  of  the  States,  is  all  wrong.  The  two 
Governments  could  give  their  assent  to  this  form  of  adjustment,  or  initia 
tion  of  adjustment,  as  well  as  any  other.  .  .  .  My  opinion  is,  that  if  such 
a  convention  should  be  called  by  the  consent  of  both  Governments,  and  it 
should  be  agreed  in  that  body  that  the  Sovereignty  of  each  State  separately 
should  be  recognized  with  all  its  legitimate  and  rightful  consequences  as 


474  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

a  basis  of  peace,  there  would,  or  ought  to  be,  no  difficulty  on  the  part  of 
either  Government  in  ratifying  these  terms.  The  whole  scheme  would 
work  easily  and  conformably  to  the  Constitutions  of  both  Governments. 
Each  State  at  the  ballot-box  would  decide — as  she  ought  to  be  permitted 
to  do — her  own  destiny." 

October  loth. — "  I  concur  entirely  with  you  in  your  views  upon  the 
subject  of  good  or  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the  several  States  in  relation 
to  their  Action  in  severing  or  not  their  connection  with  others,  either  during 
war  or  peace.  The  war  makes  no  difference.  The  right  ground  on  which 
to  meet  any  proposition  for  a  severance  at  this  time  is,  not  that  it  would 
be  an  act  of  bad  faith,  but  an  act  highly  injurious  to  the  interest  of  any 
such  State.  The  Confederation  was  formed  for  the  mutual  advantage  and 
interest  of  alLJ  Should  any  State  at  any  time  become  satisfied  that  the 
cior^tged  for  purposes  securing  her  best  interests,  future  safety, 
and  protection,  she  has  a  perfect  right  to  withdraw,  and  would  commit  no 
ich  of  faith,  either  expressed  or  implied,  in  doing  so. 

"What  I  meant  by  both  Governments  giving  their  consent  to  a  conven 
tion  of  the  States,  was,  that  such  consent  could  be  given  without  any 
violation  of  the  Constitution.  In  this  way  the  meeting  of  the  States  in 
convention  could  be  regularly,  rather  than  constitutionally,  assembled. 
As  under  our  Constitution  the  initiation  of  peace  properly  belongs  to  the 
Executive,  it  seems  to  me  that  to  have  all  things  done  regularly  and  prop 
erly,  should  a  Convention  of  the  States  be  resorted  to,  the  proposition 
should  be  made  by  one,  and  acceded  to  by  the  other  Government.  Each 
State  in  our  Confederacy,  and  each  in  the  old  Union,  has  delegated  the 
treaty-making  power,  and  all  powers  relating  to  foreign  intercourse,  to  the 
Federal  Head;  and  if  any  State  should  be  disposed  to  take  control  of  the 
present  issues  of  peace  and  war  without  the  consent  of  the  Federal  Head, 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  she  would  first  have  to  resume  her  sovereign 
powers, — in  other  words,  she  would  first  have  to  secede.  But  Avith  the 
consent  of  the  Federal  Head  this  would  not  be  necessary, — the  delegates 
to  such  convention  would  be  but  commissioners  on  the  part  of  each  Con 
federation,  who  might  be  appointed  in  this  way  as  well  as  any  other.  At 
least  they  could  be  appointed  in  this  way  without  any  violation  of  the 
Constitution.  Mr.  Davis,  in  his  speech  at  Columbia,  says  such  a  conven 
tion  would  l)e  against  the  Constitution  !  I  do  not  see  how  this  is.  Should 
McClellan  be  elected,  this  may,  and  perhaps  will,  become  a  great  question ; 
but  if  not,  it  will  pass  away,  most  probably,  as  a  thousand  other  shadows 
of  the  day.  without  leaving  any  impression,  and  without  indicating  any 
thing  even  to  the  most  observing  minds,  except  the  real  substance  to  which 
they  owe  their  origin.  Hence  I  said  so  little  on  the  subject  in  my  letter: 
that  little  was  said  barely  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  favorable  response 
to  the  Chicago  movement,  that  it  might  have  all  the  influence  that  any 
thing  coming  from  me  could  have.  That,  I  know,  would  not  be  much. 
But  I  did  think,  and  do  think,  if  President  Davis  had  said  even  as  little 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS.  475 

as  I  did  on  that  general  line,  or  favoring  the  idea  to  the  extent  I  did,  it 
would  have  had  a  telling  effect  at  the  North.  He,  however,  has  chosen 
to  repel  the^>ffer  at  the  threshold." 

October  18th. — He  is  still  annoyed  by  the  misconstructions 
placed  upon  his  letter  of  September  14th.  (See  ante.} 

"  Some  seem  to  think  that  my  purpose  was  to  announce  a  plan  for  call 
ing  the  States  in  convention  to  settle  their  own  disputes  without  reference 
to  either  the  Government  at  Washington  or  that  at  Richmond,  but  to  throw 
them  both  off, — ignore  them  ;  and  that  my  view  was  in  this  way  to  recon 
struct  the  old  Union !  No  such  idea  entered  my  head.  I  understood  the 
Chicago  platform  simply  to  announce  the  purpose  of  that  party,  if  suc 
cessful  in  getting  control  of  the  Washington  Government,  to  make  this 
proposition  through  its  properly-constituted  channels  to  the  like  author 
ities  on  our  side.  It  was  not  my  object  to  moot  or  inquire  into  that  other 
and  graver  question  whether  the  States  could  or  could  not  in  good  faith  or 
otherwise  meet  in  convention  and  settle  the  strife  even  despite  their  pres 
ent  Confederate  authorities.  This  question  was  hinted  at  by  Governor 
Brown  in  the  concluding  sentence  of  his  letter  to  Sherman.  But  that 
question  I  did  not  intend  by  any  word  uttered  by  me  to  broach.  It  is  a 
great  and  grave  question,  which  may  become  an  interesting  one ;  but  it  is 
not  presented  in  the  Chicago  platform  nor  in  my  favorable  response  to  that 
platform." 

On  the  3d  of  December,  Mr.  Stephens  went  to  Richmond  to 
attend  Congress,  and  on  the  5th  lie  writes  to  Linton,  mentioning 
that  he  is  suffering  more  than  usual  from  his  old  affection  of  the 
kidneys.  He  adverts  to  the  high  price  of  lodgings  in  Rich 
mond  :  where  he  is  staying  he  pays  thirty  dollars  (currency)  a 
day  for  meals  and  room. 

"Fuel,  lights,  and  extras  generally  will  be  about  thirty  dollars  per  day 
more ;  so  it  will  not  take  long  to  consume  iny  salary." 

December  23d. —  ..."  I  am  satisfied  that  I  can  do 'no  good  here.  Yester 
day  I  got  hold  of  Judge  Taney's  decision  on  the  Habeas  Corpus  question  in 
the  case  of  John  Merryman,  in  Baltimore,  May,  1861.  It  is  a  great  paper. 
I  will  try  to  have  it  republished  in  Georgia.  It  sets  at  nought  the  prevail 
ing  opinions  here  on  the  power  of  Congress  over  this  great  writ  of  right. 

"  I  have  strong  inclinations  to  resign  my  position  as  Vice-President.     !>, 
shall  do  nothing  hastily  or  rashly,  but  I  can  never  approve  doctrines  and    J 
principles  which  are  likely  to  become  fixed  in  this  country.      Judge  Taney 
uses  this  language, — speaking  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, — '  He 
is  not  empowered  to  arrest  any  one  charged  with  an  offence  against  the 
United  States,  and  whom  he  may  from  the  evidence  before  him  believe  to 


476  LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

be  guilty ;  nor  can  he  authorize  any  officer,  civil  or  military,  to  exercise 
this  power,  for  the  Fifth  Article  of  the  Amendments  to  the  Constitu 
tion  expressly  provides  that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law, — that  is,  judicial  process.'  This  is 
very  high  authority  for  the  position  that  warrants  for  arrest  under  the 
Constitution  must  be  judicial  warrants, — emanating  from  the  Judicial 
Dejmrtment  of  the  Government  and  not  the  Executive.  In  another  part 

/of  the  decision  he  quotes  another  of  the  Amendments  to  the  Constitution. 

Vand  then  says,  '  And  these  great  and  fundamental  laws  which  Congress 
itself  could  not  suspend  have  been  disregarded.'  .  .  .  The  decision  is 
'jam  up'  to  your  resolutions;  and  if  you  had  had  it  before  you,  and  had 
been  drawing  resolutions  founded  upon  its  principles,  you  could  not  have 
done  it  more  exactly  than  you  did  in  the  Georgia  Resolutions  of  last 
March." 

December  2Jf.th. — '*  You  will  see  by  a  vote  of  the  House  taken  in  open 
session  to-day,  that  the  indications  are  strong  that  it  is  the  intention  of  that 
body  again  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  ...  I 
went  to  the  Whig  office  this  morning  and  offered  them  two  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  to  republish  Judge  Taney's  decision.  I  could  not  get  a 
positive  answer  whether  they  will  do  it  or  not.  I  offered  their  price.  .  .  . 
"  If  this  bill  passes  in  such  form  as  it  is  most  likely  to  pass,  I  do  trust 
Governor  Brown  will  issue  his  proclamation  advising  the  justices  of  the 
inferior  courts  in  the  State  to  disregard  it  until  the  matter  may  be  adju 
dicated  by  our  own  Supreme  Court.  If  that  court  shall  decide  the  act  to 
be  constitutional,  I  shall  feel  very  little  further  interest  in  the  result  of 
the  conflict.  It  will  simply  be  a  contest  between  dynasties, — a  struggle 
between  two  powers, — not  for  rights  or  constitutional  liberty,  but  for 
despotism." 

To  those  who  urged  that  the  loss  of  liberty  should  be,  for  a 
time,  endured,  for  the  sake  of  securing  independence,  and  that 
Davis  would  be  a  better  master  than  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stephens  re 
plied  that  without  liberty  independence  was  worthless.  "I  will 
never,"  he  said,  ^choose  between  masters.  Death,  rather  than 
any  master  whatever?*"" 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Difficulty  with  the  Senate— Address  before  them — Change  of  Policy  recom 
mended — Sympathy  for  Prisoners— Resolutions — The  Hampton  Roads 
Conference — Exchange  of  Prisoners — Declines  to  speak  at  Richmond — 
Returns  to  Crawfordville — Letter  about  the  Conference — Sherman's  Ad 
vance — Lee's  Surrender — Arrest  of  Mr.  Stephens — Imprisonment  in  Fort 
Warren — Linton  joins  him — Prison  Journal — Release — Life  at  Liberty 
Hall— Declines  to  be  a  Candidate  for  the  United  States  Senatorship — 
Urgency  of  his  Friends — His  Election — Not  allowed  to  take  his  Seat, — 
Address  to  Georgia  Legislature — Summoned  before  "  Reconstruction 
Committee'7 — Philadelphia  Convention — His  Opinions  of  Seward,  Stan- 
ton,  and  Grant — Undertakes  a  History  of  the  War — Sufferings  from 
Renal  Calculus. 

THE  year  1865  opened  more  gloomily  for  the  Confederate 
cause  than  any  before.  But  while  feeling  all  the  gravity  of  the 
situation,  Mr.  Stephens  did  not  despair.  He  still  believed  that 
by  an  entire  change  in  the  policy  of  the  Administration  the 
success  of  the  cause  might  yet  be  secured. 

Early  in  January,  when  the  bill  to  suspend  further  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  which  had  passed  the  House,  came  up  for 
action  in  the  Senate,  the  vote  upon  its  passage  was  a  tie.  Mr. 
Stephens  announced  from  the  chair  the  result,  and  stated  that  it 
then  became  his  duty  to  give  the  casting-vote;  but  before  doing 
this,  and  thus  deciding  the  question,  he  would  take  the  occasion 
to  give  the  reasons  which  influenced  him.  Hereupon  the  ques 
tion  of  his  right  to  deliver  his  opinion  was  raised,  and  discussed 
at  some  length,  when  a  Senator  arose  and  proposed  to  change  his 
vote,  so  as  to  dissolve  the  tie  and  cut  off  the  speech.  Mr.  Ste 
phens,  in  the  chair,  decided  that  the  Senator  could  not  change 
his  vote  after  the  result  had  been  announced  by  the  presiding 
officer.  From  this  an  appeal  was  taken,  which  was  sustained 
by  the  Senate,  and  the  decision  of  the  Chair  overruled.  This 
Mr.  Stephens  looked  upon  as  a  direct  indignity.  The  Senate. 

477 


478  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H>   STEPHENS. 

immediately  adjourned ;  and  Mr.  Stephens  called  Mr.  Hunter 
to  him,  and  notified  him  that  he  intended  to  resign  at  once,  as 
he  felt  that  he  could  no  longer  render  any  useful  service  to  the 
country  when  the  Senate,  in  violation  of  parliamentary  rules, 
refused  to  allow  him,  the  second  officer  of  the  Government,  to 
state  his  views  upon  a  matter  which  he  thought  of  vital  im 
portance  to  the  cause.  He  then  left  the  Senate-chamber,  intend 
ing  never  to  re-enter  it. 

Mr.  Hunter,  however,  urged  him  not  to  act  hastily  in  the 
matter;  and  the  next  day  he  brought  Mr.  Stephens  a  resolution, 
unanimously  passed  by  the  Senate,  requesting  him  to  address 
them  in  secret  session  upon  the  situation  of  public  affairs.  Mr. 
Hunter  assured  him  that  the  Senate  was  unanimous  in  desiring 
that  he  should  not  resign,  and  that  they  had  not  intended  any 
personal  or  official  indignity  in  not  allowing  him  to  speak  the  day 
before.  To  these  earnest  representations  Mr.  Stephens  yielded, 
entered  the  Senate,  and  witlfout  resuming  the  chair  addressed 
them  from  the  floor  in  a  speech  of  great  length.  As  this  was 
delivered  in  secret  session  it  was  not  reported ;  but  we  extract  the 
following  account  of  its  tenor  and  substance  from  Mr.  Stephens's 
Constitutional  View  of  the  War  (vol.  ii.  p.  587) : 

"  The  sum  and  substance  of  it  was  that  our  policy,  both  internally  and 
externally,  should  be  speedily  and  thoroughly  changed.  Conscription, 
impressments,  t suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and.  all  those 
measures  which  tended  to  dispirit  our  people  in  the  great  cause  for  which 
they  were  struggling,  should  be  immediately  abandoned.  The  resources 
of  the  country,  both  of  men  and  subsistence,  should  be  better  husbanded 
than  they  had  been.  Proclamation  should  be  made  inviting  back  to  the 
army  all  who  had  left  it  without  leave  ;  and  all  who  were  then  subject  to 
conscription  to  come  in  under  leaders  of  their  own.  In  this  way  I  be 
lieved  Price  and  Johnston,  to  say  nothing  of  others,  would  in  thirty  days 
bring  to  their  ranks  more  than  the  Conscript  Bureau  had,  by  compulsory 
process,  brought  from  the  beginning.  Men  who  should  so  come  would 
never  desert,  and  might  be  relied  on  to  fight  when  they  did  come. 

"I  reminded  them  of  what  they  knew  had  been  my  opinion  upon  these 
subjects  from  the  beginning  ;  that  the  policy  of  holding  posts  or  positions 
against  besieging  armies,  as  well  as  of  engaging  in  pitched  battles,  should 
not  be  pursued.  We  could  not  match  our  opponents  in  numbers,  and 
should  not  attempt  to  cope  with  them  in  direct  physical  power.  War  was 
a  collision  of  forces  5  and  in  this,  as  in  mechanics,  the  greater  momentum 
must  prevail.  Momentum,  however,  was  resolvable  into  two  elements : 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  479 

quantity  of  matter  and  velocity.  The  superior  numbers — the  quantity  of 
matter  in  this  instance — were  on  the  other  side ;  and  to  succeed  in  the  end 
we  must  make  up  the  other  requisite  element  of  momentum,  not  only  by 
spirit,  animation,  and  morale  of  our  unequal  numbers,  but  by  their  skilful 
movements,  and  by  other  resorts  which  were  at  our  command.  These 
consisted  in  the  many  advantages  which  an  invaded  people  have  over 
invaders.  The  policy  of  Johnston  from  Dalton  to  the  Chattahoochee  was 
the  right  one.  To  preserve  the  lives  of  our  arms-bearing  men  was  itself 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance.  Our  supply  of  these  was  limited,  while 
that  of  our  opponents  was  inexhaustible.  They  could  afford  to  lose  any 
number  of  battles,  with  great  losses  of  men,  if  they  could  thereby 
materially  thin  our  ranks.  In  this  way,  by  attrition  alone,  they  would 
ultimately  wear  us  out.  The  leading  object  should  be  to  keep  an  axmy 
in  the  field,  and  to  keep  the  standard  up  .somewhere,  wherever  it  could 
be  done,  without  offering  battle,  except  where  the  advantages  were  de 
cidedly  in  our  favor.  If,  in  pursuing  this  course  now,  of  retiring  when 
necessary,  instead  of  offering  or  accepting  battle,  as  stated,  our  whole 
country  should  be  penetrated,  and  should  even  be  laid  waste,  as  the  Valley 
of  Virginia  and  the  smoking  belt  in  Georgia  had  been  by  Sheridan  and 
Sherman,  these  devastations  would  be  borne  by  our  people  so  long  as  their 
hearts  were  kept  enlisted  in  the  cause.  On  this  line  of  internal  policy  our 
standard  might  even  yet  be  kept  up  for  at  least  a  year  or  two  longer, — 
perhaps  for  a  period  far  beyond  that ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  by  a  change  in 
our  external  policy  toward  the  masses  of  the  people  at  the  North,  a  reaction 
might  reasonably  be  expected  to  take  place  there.  A  financial  revolution 
there  might  be  certainly  expected  in  less  than  two  years.  The  deprecia 
tion  of  their  currency  had  already  reached  a  point  which  was  quite 
alarming  to  capitalists.  Greenbacks  had  already  sold  in  New  York  at 
nearly  three  for  one,  in  gold.  When  the  crash  did  come,  as  soon  it  must, 
the  effects  would  be,  politically,  as  well  as  in  other  respects,  tremendous. 
At  that  time  they  could  not  be  properly  conjectured  ;  but  when  it  did 
come,  then,  with  a  proper  policy  toward  the  million  eight  humlred 
thousand  and  more  of  the  other  side  who  had  so  recently  and  decidedly 
demonstrated  thrnr opposition  to  tl>e  Centralists  in  the  late  election,  we 
might,  tlvrougn^TTrern^thoroughly  aroused  to  a  sense  of  their  own  dan 
ger, — look  for  a  peaceful  adjustment  upon  a  basis  which  would  secure 
best  both  their  liberties  and  ours.  My  opinion  was  that  by  pursuing  this 
course  we  might  in  the  end  succeed  in  the  cause  for  which  we  were, 
struggling,  without  relying  solely  upon  the  sword. 

"  The  policy  thus  stated  necessarily  involved  the  abandonment  of  a 
continued  attempt  to  hold  Richmond.  This,  however,  I  did  not  state  in 
express  ternis  in  my  speech  to  the  Senate.  I  only  left  all  to  draw  their 
inferences.  To  Mr.  Davis  .alone  I  submitted  the  propriety  and  necessity  of 
this  course  ;  for  I  knew  if  he  could  not  first  be  brought  to  see  it,  it  would' 
be  not  only  useless,  but  most  probably  exceedingly  injurious,  in  the  then 


480  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

state  of  the  public  mind,  to  mention  it  to  others.  When  the  subject  was 
mentioned  to  him,  his  reply  in  substance  was,  that  the  abandonment  of 
Richmond  would  be  a  virtual  abandonment  of  the  cause." 

This  speech  produced  a  great  impression  upon  the  Senate,  and 
he  was  requested  to  submit  his  views  in  the  form  of  resolutions, 
which  lie  did.  They  were  the  following  : 

RESOLUTIONS. 

J.  Resolved,  That  the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
based  upon  the  constitutional  compact  between  the  Sovereign  States  com 
posing  the  Confederacy,  and  maintained  for  nearly  four  years  of  gigantic 
war,  justly  claims  from  their  former  associates  and  from  the  world  recog 
nition  as  a  rightful  fact. 

2.  Resolved,  Thatall  the  States  which  composed  the  late  American 
Union,  as  well  thosFlimlmicetr  wTtliTn  the  present  United  States  as  those 
embraced  within  the  Southern  Confederacy,  are  what  the  original  thirteen 
States  were  declared  to  be  by  their  common  ancestors  in  1776,  and  ac 
knowledged  to  be  by  George  the  Third  of  England^jnjjle^ejajient  and 
sovereign  States,  not  as  one  political  communitv.Jbut  as  States,  each  one 
of  them  constituting  such  a  "  People"'  as  have  the  inalienable  right  to 
terminate  any  government  of  their  former  choice  by  withdrawing  from  it 
their  consent,  just  as  the  original  thirteen  States,  through  their  common 
agent  acting  for  and  in  the  name  of  each  one  of  them,  by  the  withdrawal 
of  their  consent  put  a  rightful  termination  to  the  British  Government  which 
had  been  established  over  them  with  their  perfect  consent  and  free  choice. 
/o.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Congress,  the  sovereignty  of 
/the  individual  and  several  States  is  the  only  basis  upon  which  a  permanent 
j  peace  between  States  now  at  war  with  each  other  can  be  established,  con- 
(  sistently  with  the  preservation  of  constitutional  liberty ;  and  that  the 
recognition  of  this  principle  will,  if  the  voice  of  passion  and  war  can  once 
be  hushed,  and  reason  be  allowed  to  resume  her  sway,  lead  to  an  easy  and 
lasting  solution  of  all  matters  of  controversy  involved  in  the  present 
unnatural  conflict,  by  simply  leaving  all  the  States  free  to  form  their 
political  association  with  each  other,  not  by  force  of  arms,  which  excludes 
%the  idea  of  consent,  but  by  a  rational  consideration  of  their  respective 
interests  growing  out  of  their  natural  condition,  resources,  and  situation. 

4.  Resolved,  That  as  the  very  point  of  controversy  in  the  present  war  is 
the  settlement  of  the  political  associations  of  the  several  States,  no  treaty 
of  peace  can  be  perfected  consistently  with  the  sovereignty  of  the  indi 
vidual  States  without  separate  State  action  on  the  part  of  at  least  those 
States  whose  preferences  may  be  justly  regarded  as  doubtful,  and  have  not 
yet  been  expressed  through  their  appropriate  organs ;  and  therefore  State 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS,  481 

co-operation  becomes  not  only  appropriate  but  necessary  in  perfecting  any 
articles  of  peace  consistently  with  the  principles  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
several  States  respectively. 

5.  Resolved,  That  we  hail  with  gratification  the  just  and  sound  senti 
ments  manifested  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
since  the  last  session  of  this  Congress,  that  all  association  of  these  Ameri 
can  States  ought  to  be  voluntary  and  not  forcible  ;  and  we  give  a  hearty 
response  to  their  views  and  wishes  for  a  suspension  of  the  present  conflict  I 
of  arms,  and  an  appeal  to  the  forum  of  reason,  to  see  if  the  matters  in 
controversy  cannot  be  properly  and  justly  adjusted  by  amicable  settlement, 
without  the  further  effusion  of  blood. 

6.  Resolved,  That  being  wedded  to  no  particular  or  exclusive  mode  of 
initiating  or  inaugurating  negotiations  looking  to  a  peaceful  settlement  and 
adjustment  of  the  questions  now  in  issue  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Confederate  States,  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Congress  that  if  it  should 
be  more  agreeable  to  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  or" 
even  a  large  and  respectable  portion  of  them,  that  the  questions  should^ 
be  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  commissioners  or  delegates  from  each'   ] 
State,  one  or  more,  to  be  assembled  in  the  character  of  a  convention  of  all 
the  States,  than  to  plenipotentiaries  appointed  in  the  usual  way  (as  lately  : 
manifested  as  aforesaid),  then  such  a  plan  of  inviting  negotiations  should  } 
be  acceded  to,  or  proposed  by,  the  Confederate  States.     Such  convention 
being  acceded  to,  or  proposed,  only  as  an  advisory  body  ;  the  commissioners 
or  delegates  to  it  being  authorized  by  the  treaty-making  power  of  each 
Government  respectively  not  to  form  any  agreement  or  compact  absolutely 
between  the  States,  but  simply  to  confer,  consult,  and  to  agree,  if  possible, 
upon  some  plan  of  peaceful  adjustment  to  be  submitted  by  them  to  their 
respective  Governments.     This  mode  of  inaugurating  negotiations,  in  the 
opinion  of  this  Congress,  would  be  relieved  of  all  possible  constitutional 
objections  by  the  consent  of  the  properly-constituted  authorities  of  the  two 
Governments.     With  such  consent,  the  proposed  delegates  would  but  act, 
in  any  view  of  the  subject,  as  commissioners  appointed  in  any  other  way 
to  negotiate  for  peace ;  and  whatever  they  might  agree  upon  or  propose 
would  be  subject  to  the  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  two  Governments 
respectively,  and  subject  also  to  the  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  par 
ticular  States  whose  sovereign  rights  might  be  involved. 

And  inasmuch  as  the  authorities  at  Washington  have  heretofore  rejected 
all  formal  offers  for  a  free  interchange  of  views  looking  to  negotiations 
made  by  our  authorities,  and  as  we  deem  it  a  high  duty  not  only  to  our 
gallant  citizen-soldiers  but  to  the  whole  body  of  our  people,  as  well*  as  our 
duty  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  civilization,  and  Christianity,  that  Congress 
should  omit  or  neglect  no  effort  in  their  power  to  bring  about  negotiations, 
if  possible, 

Therefore  be  it  further 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States  be  informed 

31 


482  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

'~bf  these  resolves,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  grant  permission  to  three 
persons,  to  be  selected  by  the  House  of  Representatives  (members  from  each 
State  voting  in  such  selection  by  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  States  being 
necessary  to  a  choice  in  each  case),  to  cross  our  lines,  who  shall  immedi 
ately  proceed  to  ask  and  obtain,  if  possible,  an  informal  interview  or  con 
ference  with  the  authorities  at  Washington,  or  any  person  or  persons  who 
may  be  appointed  to  meet  them,  to  see  if  any  such  plan  of  inaugurating 
negotiations  for  peace  upon  the  basis  above  set  forth  can  be  agreed  upon  ; 
and  if  not,  to  ascertain  and  report  to  the  President  and  to  Congress  any 
other,  or  what  terms,  if  any,  of  peaceful  settlement  may  be  proposed  by 
the  authorities  at  Washington.  Should  this  effort  fail,  we  shall  have  the 
consolation  of  knowing  that  we,  in  our  high  and  responsible  trusts,  have 
done  our  duty.  We  shall  have  given  assurance  to  our  people  that  we  have 
done  all  that  we  can  do  in  our  position  and  capacity  to  end  the  strife  upon 
just  and  proper  principles ;  and  the  rejection  of  this  overture  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  will  afford  additional  evidence  to  the  people  of 
those  States  that  he  is  waging  this  unnatural  war  not  for  peace  or  the  good 
of  his  country,  but  for  purposes  of  the  most  unholy  ambition  ;  while  it 
will  demonstrate  to  our  people  that  his  object  as  to  them  is  nothing  short 
of  their  utter  subjugation  or  extinction." 

On  the  reading  of  these  resolutions  the  Senate,  as  Mr.  Ste 
phens  was  informed,  unanimously  agreed  to  them,  and  they 
were  to  be  passed  in  the  House  as  soon  as  possible,  and  come 
back  to  the  Senate,  where  they  would  meet  no  opposition,  the 
Senate  having  come  entirely  round  to  Mr.  Stephens's  policy. 

A  long  letter  to  Linton,  dated  January  5th,  gives  an  account 
of  a  visit  he  paid  to  a  Mr.  Bassford,  of  Atlanta,  then  confined 
in  the  Richmond  jail,  where  he  had  been  for  eighteen  months 
under  a  charge  of  murder.  The  visit  was  made  at  the  prisoner's 
solicitation,  who  was  anxious  to  have  Mr.  Stephens  to  defend 
him.  According  to  his  statement,  the  homicide  was  committed 
in  defending  himself  from  a  murderous  assault,  and  Mr.  Ste 
phens  agreed  to  undertake  his  defence,  "  as  a  friend/7  if  he  was 
in  Richmond  when  the  case  was  tried.  A  very  minute  account 
is  given  of  the  jail,  its  interior  arrangements,  and  the  wretched 
condition  of  its  inmates.  The  letter  concludes : 

"I  was  glad  that  I  went  to  see  the  prisoner.  Liberty, — the  bare  right 
of  locomotion, — to  walk  out  in  the  open  air  and  enjoy  the  light  of  day,— • 
what  an  inestimable  blessing  it  is!  How  many  millions  enjoy  and  never 
think  of  its  value !  How  many  thousands  daily  walk  the  streets  of  Rich 
mond  by  the  numerous  prisons  in  it,  and  never  think  of  the  unfortunate 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  483 

beings  who  repine  and  often  die  in  the  cold  dusky  walls  on  which  they 
direct  not  a  glance  nor  bestow  a  thought !  Whenever  I  see  a  head  at  an 
iron  grate,  my  heart  is  interested  in  behalf  of  the  sufferer;  and  I  often 
speculate  on  the  history,  or  tragedy  it  may  be,  of  that  life.  Good-night. 
I  dreamed  of  you  last  night.  May  I  dream  of  you  again  to-night !'' 

We  have  before  noticed  Mr.  Stephens's  great  sympathy  for 
prisoners.  He  could  not  at  this  time  have  foreseen — though  such 
a  fate  had  often  presented  itself  to  his  mind  as  a  possibility— 
that  in  four  months  he  would  himself  be  the  tenant  of  a  prisoner's 
cell. 

January  6th. —  ..."  The  feeling  here  is  better  than  it  was.  The  pres- . 
ent  indications  are  that  the  habeas  corpus  suspension  will  be  abandoned, . 
and  several  other  follies  as  well  as  mischievous  measures.  I  sent  you  a 
copy  the  other  day  of  a  rehash  of  your  Resolutions"  [the  "Georgia  Reso 
lutions"  of  March,  1864]  "which  I  did  up  for  Atkins  of  the  House  to  be 
offered  by  him  to  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs,  hoping  to  get  their 
endorsement  of  them  in  a  report  to  the  House  recommending  their  adop 
tion.  The  Committee  consisted  of  nine  members :  the  vote  stood  four  to 
four.  The  Chairman,  Rives,  cast  the  vote  against  them ;  but  it  is  thought 
he  wTill  reconsider,  and  that  they  will  pass  the  House. 

"  The  Senate  to-day  held  a  meeting  after  adjournment, — Hunter  in  the 
chair, — and  passed  a  resolution  unanimously  requesting  me  to  address 
them  on  the  present  condition  of  the  country.  It  was  with  closed  doors. 
The  whole  took  me  by  surprise  ;  but  I  complied  with  the  request  and  spoke 
to  them  two  hours.  I  gave  them  my  views  very  freely." 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  general  tenor  of  the  speech, 
which  we  have  already  given  more  in  detail.  He  adds : 

••  I  urged  the  importance  of  offering  to  the_North  negotiations- 
basis  of  the  Resolutions  alliided"t(57"Ttola"them  that  we  had  ten  friends 
at  the  North  to  one  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Our  external  policy 
should  look  to  co-operation  with  these.  By  '  friends  at  the  North,'  I  did 
not  mean  men  who  were  in  favor  of  disunion,  or  those  wrho  would  even 
avow  a  willingness  for  our  separation,  but  men  who  really  had  the  same 
interests  at  stake  in  the  contest  that  we  have, — the  preservation  of  State 
Rights  and  Constitutional  liberty.  This  made  them  our  natural,  allies  ; 
and  we  should  pursue  such  a  course  of  policy  towards  them  as  to  bring 
their  efforts  in  maintaining  their  own  liberties  to  co-operate  with  us  to 
maintain  ours.  We  should  let  them  know  that,  after  the  contest  was  over, 
we  would  then  consider  with  them  all  questions  looking  to  new  union,  and 
settle  them  upon  rational  considerations  in  view  of  reciprocal  advantages 
and  mutual  convenience. 


484  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   It.  STEPHENS. 

"  The  speech  was  delivered  off-hand,  without  a  moment's  reflection,  but 
it  made,  I  think,  a  very  decided  impression.  .  .  .  ^Whether  anything  can 
be  made  of  the  concern,  I  do  not  know.  I  shall  labor  to  the  last  and  do 
all  I  can.  I  am  not  sanguine,  but  am  not  by  any  means  depressed./ 1  am 
prepared  for  anything,  and  have  a  spirit  that  I  trust  will  prove  equal  to 
any  crisjssy  With  duty  discharged  with  fidelity,  I  shall  have  a  clear  con 
science,  and  feel  content,  let  events  take  what  direction,  under  Providence, 
they  may." 

Early  in  January,  Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  visited  Rich 
mond  and  had  several  private  interviews  with  President  Davis. 
The  result  of  these — if  we  may  call  it  a  result — was  the  Hamp 
ton  Roads  Conference,  held  on  February.  3d,  between  Messrs. 
Stephens,  Hunter,  and  Campbell  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate 
authorities,  and  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward  of  the 
United  States.  The  whole  account  of  this  interview  is  given  so 
circumstantially  by  Mr.  Stephens  himself  in  his  Constitutional 
View  of  the  War  (ii.  pp.  589-622),  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  re 
produce  it  here.  Some  of  his  own  remarks  upon  this  subject  in 
conversation  with  Mr.  Johnston,  who  visited  him  shortly  after 
his  return  from  Richmond  on  the  20th  of  February,  may  not 
be  without  interest. 

MR.  S. — "  The  objects  of  the  mission  to  Fortress  Monroe  have  not  been 
understood  by  the  people  generally.  It  was  to  endeavor  if  possible  to  ob 
tain  an  armistice.  Blair  had  stated  in  Richmond  that  President  Lincoln 
was  very  much  pressed  by  the  Radical  party  at  home  to  employ  the  most 
extreme  measures  with  what  he  termed  '  the  rebels' :  and  that  now,  as  the 
relations  with  France  were  becoming  embarrassing,  it  would  be  a  good 
time  to  make  overtures  to  the  United  States  Government  on  the  basis  of 
the  '  Monroe  doctrine.'  I  believed  that,  if  Blair  was  sincere,  much  could 
be  done  by  the  exercise  of  prudence.  When  the  President  made  known 
the  matter  to  me,  I  urged  him  to  keep  it  a  profound  secret,  and  to  go  him 
self  to  meet  Lincoln.  He  expressed  himself  as  decidedly  opposed  to  that. 
I  then  advised  him  to  send  some  one  whose  absence  would  not  be  especially 
noticed,  and  suggested  Judge  Campbell.  The  President  maintained  that 
the  Commission  must  consist  of  more  than  one;  so  I  suggested  in  addition 
Thomas  S.  Flournoy,  who  was  then  in  Richmond,  and  General  Benning, 
in  which  suggestion  I  thought  he  acquiesced.  But  the  next  day  the  Presi 
dent  sent  for  me,  and  said  that  the  Cabinet  had  agreed  upon  Campbell, 
Hunter,  and  myself.  I  found  that  the  appointment  was  already  generally 
known  in  Richmond.  I  was  very  reluctant  to  go,  because  I  felt  that  the 
President  did  not  fully  sympathize  with  the  real  objects  of  that  mission  •, 
but  I  concluded  to  go  because  of  even  a  slight  hope  of  doing  some  good. 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  485 

"  Lincoln  and  Seward,  of  course,  would  not  agree  to  consider  any  tern 
of  truce  which  did  not  recognize  a  return  of  the  Southern  State*  to  the 
Union.  I  urged  an  armistice,  allowing  the  States  to  adjust  themselves  as 
suited  their  interests.  If  it  would  be  to  their  interests  to  reunite,  they 
would  do  so ;  but  that  according  to  the  principle  of  State  rights  and  State 
sovereignty,  they  could  not  be  compelled.  Seward  made  the  supposition 
that  Louisiana,  bordering  as  she  does  for  a  great  distance  on  both  sides 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  great  outlet  of  the  West,  should  secede.  I  answered 
that  he  took  indeed  an  extreme  case ;  but  that  if  France  would  treat  her 
better  than  the  Union  of  which  she  was  a  member,  she  ought  to  secede." 

One  of  the  guests  asked  if  it  was  true  that  Mr.  Lincoln  told 
the  anecdote  of  the  turkey  and  the  buzzard. 

MR.  S. — "  No.  But  he  said  something  that  was  quite  characteristic. 
Allusion  having  been  made  to  Charles  I.,  of  England,  and  his  treating  with 
men  whom  he  called  ;  rebels,'  Lincoln  laughed  and  said  we  must  talk  with 
Seward  about  that  matter;  all  he  remembered  about  Charles  was,  that  he 
lost  his  head." 

At  the  close  of  the  conference,  Mr.  Stephens  brought  up  a 
subject  which  had  long  rested  on  his  mind, — that  of  the  exchange 
of  prisoners.  The  policy  of  non-exchange,  persevered  in  by  the 
Federal  Government,  despite  all  representations  and  propositions 
made  by  the  South,  kept  the  prisons  on  both  sides  crowded,  and 
entailed  fearful  suffering  and  mortality  on  both  Northern  and 
Southern  prisoners.  It  was  believed  that  the  responsibility  for 
this  cruelty  rested,  not  with  the  President,  but  with  his  Secretary 
of  War;  and  Mr.  Lincoln  showed  no  disposition  to  resist  the 
appeal  to  his  humanity,  but  referred  the  Commissioners  to  Gen 
eral  Grant,  whom  he  would  authorize  to  act  in  the  matter.  On 
returning  to  City  Point,  the  Commissioners  had  an  interview 
with  General  Grant  (whose  manner  and  bearing  impressed  Mr. 
Stephens  very  favorablyj2_wjiicJiJ^sul4edy-«fwrr  after^in  a  general 
exchange.  At  the  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stephens 
also  maderlfpplication  for  the  special  exchange  of  his  nephew, 
Lieutenant  Stephens,  then  a  prisoner  at  Johnson's  Island,  which 
was  readily  acceded  to,  and  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  return  the  lieuten 
ant  was  promptly  released,  on  the  condition  that  there  should  be 
exchanged  for  him  "that  officer  of  the  same  rank,  imprisoned 
in  Richmond,  whose  physical  condition  most  urgently  requires 
his  release." 


486  L]FE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

After  the  failure  of  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference,  Mr. 
Davis  addressed  the  citizens  of  Richmond  in  an  eloquent  speech, 
urging  them  to  continued  resistance.  Mr.  Stephens  was  also 
requested  to  address  this  meeting,  but  declined.  "  I  could  not," 
he  says,  "  undertake  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  people 
the  idea  that  they  could  do  what  I  believed  to  be  impossible,  or 
to  inspire  in  them  hopes  which  I  did  not  believe  could  ever  be 
realized." 

In  truth  the  day  of  hope  had  now  gone  by.  Fort  Fisher  had 
fallen,  closing  the  last  port  of  the  Confederacy  to  foreign  trade. 
Sherman  had  commenced  that  march  from  Savannah,  the  atro 
cities  of  which  culminated  in  the  burning  of  Columbia  with 
circumstances  of  such  cruelty  that  even  the  little-scrupulous 
Congressional  Committee  thought  it  prudent  to  suppress  the 
despatches. 

Mr.  Stephens  left  Richmond  on  the  7th  of  February,  and 
reached  Crawfordville  on  the  20th,  having  been  detained  by 
sickness  on  the  way.  On  the  17th  of  March  he  writes  a  long 
letter  to  R.  M.  J.,  giving  some  details  of  the  Hampton  Roads 
Conference,  on  which  he  remarks  : 

/  "  I  have,  from  the  first,  not  been  without  some  suspicion  that  the  whole 
(  arrangement  with  Blair  wras  planned  with  a  view  to  stop  and  forestall,  just 
Vtis  it  did,  the  action  of  Congress  on  the  line  (indicated  by  my  resolutions) 
they  were  about  to  adopt.  This  would  have  been  done  in  ten  days,  or  per 
haps  sooner,  but  for  the  denouement  of  the  Blair  affair.  What  Congress 
most  probably  would  have  done  is  this :  they  would  have  passed  the  reso 
lutions  submitted,  and  would  have  appointed  Commissioners  to  seek  an 
informal  conference  with  the  authorities  at  Washington,  to  ascertain  upon 
what  terms  peace  could  be  obtained  ;  and  would  have  been  instructed  to 
propose  a  convention  of  all  the  States  as  a  mode  of  initiating  negotiations. 
This  would  not  have  been  done  under  any  expectation  that  Lincoln  would 
agree  to  it ;  but  to  show  to  the  people  of  the  North  and  the  world  the 
fairness  of  our  course,  and  to  make  allies  at  the  North  of  all  friends  of 
constitutional  liberty  there.  It  was  to  be  the  first  step  in  the  change  of 
our  foreign  policy  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  It  was  to  unite  our  people 
and  divide  the  North ;  and  was  to  be  followed  up  by  a  like  change  of 
policy  in  this.  Hereafter  the  question  of  the  future  relations  of  the  States 
toward  each  other  was  to  be  left  for  adjustment  among  themselves,  when 
the  great  principle  of  the  sovereignty — ultimate,  absolute  sovereignty — 
/of  each  was  first  acknowledged.  If  it  should  be  first  settled  by  the  friends 
of  .constitutional  liberty,  North  and  South,  that  there  is  no  rightful  power 


LIFE   OF  ALEX.  I  M) Kit   H.  STEPHENS.  487 

in  the  central  Government  to  coerce  a  State ;  with  this  principle  once  ac-  I 
knowledged  and  settled  as  the  basis  of  American  institutions,  then  all  I 
other  questions  as  to  the  relations  of  the  States  among  themselves  wefirttr 
be  left  for  time  and  reason  to  adjust  upon  the  principle  of  'reciprocal  ad 
vantages  and  mutual  convenience.'     This  was  my  programme  for  continu 
ing  the  war  on  this  line.     On  no  other  did  I  see  much  chance  of  success ; 
and  on  no  other  did  I  see  much  good  to  be  obtained  even  by  success.     For 
independence  without  liberty  had  no  attractions  for  ine  ;  and  I  see  no  pros 
pect  of  liberty  except  upon  the  acknowledged  principle  of  the  rights  and 
sovereignty  of  the  separate  States,  North  or  South." 

On  the  20th  of  April  he  writes  to  Linton: 

..."  I  hear  the  enemy  have  possession  of  Macon  and  are  moving  on 
Augusta.  These  reports  will  keep  me  from  going  over  to  Sparta  this 
week.  While  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  attempt  to  get  out  of  their  way 
if  they  do  pass  through  here,  I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  get  voluntarily  in 
their  way.  I  wish  you  would  come  over  here  and  let  us  stand  or  fall 
together.  I  have  positive  information  that  General  Lee's  army  surren 
dered  on  the  10th  inst.  Johnston  must  soon  do  the  same.  Organized  war 
is,  or  soon  will  be,  over  with  us.  If  I  knew  when  a  letter  from  me  to 
Governor  Brown  would  reach  him,  I  would  write  him  advising  him  to 
convene  the  Legislature  and*  recommend  the  call  of  another  State  conven 
tion  to  consider  our  present  condition  and  provide  for  the  future.  Almost 
anything  is  better  than  guerilla  warfare." 

On  the  llth  of  May,  Mr.  Stephens  was  arrested  at  his  house 
by  Captain  Saint  of  the  Federal  army,  acting  under  orders 
from  Major-General  Upton,  and  conveyed  under  guard  to  At 
lanta,  where  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  Colonel  Pritchard,  who 
had  then  in  his  custody  Mr.  Davis  and  those  captured  with  him. 
At  Hampton  Roads  orders  were  received  for  Mr.  Stephens  to 
be  sent  to  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  harbor,  where  he  arrived 
May  25th.  At  first  his  confinement  was  rigorous,  and  the  damp 
ness  and  closeness  of  the  room  partly  underground  in  which  he 
was  placed  had  a  serious  effect  upon  his  health ;  but  he  was 
afterwards  removed  to  more  comfortable  quarters,  and  allowed 
the  freedom  of  the  grounds.  Books,  newspapers,  and  writing 
materials  were  allowed  him.  On  the  whole,  he  was  treated  with 
as  much  humanity  as  circumstances  permitted,  and  received 
much  kindness  from  many  citizens  of  Boston,  which  he  grate 
fully  remembers  to  this  day. 

As  soon  as  Linton  could  get  permission  to  share  his  brother's 


488  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

confinement  he  went  to  him,  and  remained  with  him  until  he 
was  released  on  parole  on  the  12th  of  October. 

During  his  confinement  Mr.  Stephens  kept  a  journal.  Be 
lieving  that  he  would  not  survive  his  imprisonment,  he  wrote 
this,  as  he  says  in  the  preface,  chiefly  in  order  that  his  brother 
and  his  friend  might,  after  his  death,  know  his  thoughts  and 
feelings  at  this  time,  and  thus  have  a  complete  knowledge  of 
that  life  which  up  to  that  time  had  been  always  open  to  them. 
After  his  return  he  allowed  them  to  read  this  journal, — a  re 
markable  record  of  the  sufferings  of  a  keenly  sensitive  spirit. 
It  is  not,  however,  only  a  chronicle  of  suffering.  He  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  reading  and  meditation;  and  much  of  this 
journal  is  taken  up  with  criticisms  and  reflections  on  books, 
men,  and  events,  and  commentaries  on  passages  of  Scripture. 
Among  classical  authors  he  gave  particular  study  to  Cicero, 
whose  genius  and  eloquence  he  greatly  admired. 

The  first  time  Mr.  Johnston  saw  Mr.  Stephens  after  his  im 
prisonment  it  was  at  his  house  in  Hancock.  It  was  a  beautiful 
October  morning.  Mr.  Stephens  had  never  been  at  all  gray, 
and  his  fine  chestnut  hair  had  kept  all  its  gloss  and  freshness ; 
but  now  his  head  was  almost  white.  Otherwise  there  was  but 
little  change  in  his  appearance.  The  journal  was  produced,  and 
he  expressed  his  intention  to  destroy  it  after  it  had  been  read  by 
the  two  for  whom  it  was  written.  He  was  urged  not  to  do  this, 
but  to  preserve  it ;  and  he  so  far  yielded  as  to  consent  to  retain 
it  for  a  time  at  least.  It  is  still  in  existence;  and  perhaps  at 
some  future  day  may  be  allowed  to  see  the  light. 
J  Probably  not  a  man  in  the  South  more  readily  adapted  him- 
Yself  to  the  changed  relations  and  new  condition  of  affairs  than 
I  Mr.  Stephens,  and  his  home-life  scarcely  underwent  a  change. 
VHis  advice  was  always  freely  given  to  his  neighbors  or  fellow- 
Mtizens  in  the  various  difficulties  and  emergencies  that  continu 
ally  arose.  During  his  absence  Harry  and  his  family  remained 
at  Liberty  Hall,  and  took  care  of  everything  with  the  fidelity 
which  had  always  characterized  him.  The  only  alteration  in 
his  domestic  arrangements  was  in  the  management  of  his  plan 
tation.  This,  before  the  war,  was  not  looked  to  as  a  source  of 
revenue  beyond  supplying  the  wants  of  the  inmates  at  the  Hall. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  489 

The  surplus  was  expended  on  the  improvement  of  the  place  and 
presents  to  servants.  Since  the  war  he  has  divided  it  into  a 
number  of  small  farms,  which  he  rents  to  his  former  slaves, 
and  thus  obtains  a  small  income  from  it.  Harry  and  his  family 
still  remained  at  the  house,  attending  to  their  former  duties. 
Old  "  Aunt  Mat"  and  her  husband,  "  Uncle  Dick/'  both  super 
annuated,  remained  with  him  as  long  as  they  lived.  There  was 
the  same  simplicity  as  before  in  everything,  and  the  same  free 
dom  from  constraint  which  induced  him  to  give  his  home  the 
name  it  bears.  "  Why  do  you  call  it  Liberty  Hall  ?"  asked  a 
friend  of  him  one  day.  "  Because  I  do  as  I  please,  and  all  my 
guests  are  expected  to  do  the  same." 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  his  State,  under  Presi 
dent  Johnson's  proclamation,  his  name  was  at  once  brought 
forward  as  the  most  suitable  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senatorship;  and  a  letter  inquiring  if  he  would  accept  the 
nomination,  and  inviting  him  to  address  the  Legislature  on  the 
state  of  the  country,  was  written  him  by  several  members  of 
that  body.  We  quote  his  reply  and  the  correspondence  that 
followed,  as  they  are  of  a  tenor  somewhat  unusual  under  similar 
circumstances : 

"  MILLEDGEVILLE,  GEORGIA,  January  22J,  1866. 
"MESSRS.  J.  F.  JOHNSON,  CHARLES  II.  SMITH,  and  others: 

"GENTLEMEN, — Your  note  of  invitation  to  me  to  address  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  state  of  the  country,  and  assuring  me  that  it  is  the 
almost  universal  desire  of  the  members  that  I  should  do  so,  if  consistent 
with  my  feelings,  etc.,  was  received  two  days  ago.  I  have  considered  it 
maturely ;  and  be  assured,  if  I  saw  any  good  that  could  be  accomplished 
by  my  complying  with  your  request,  I  would  cheerfully  yield  any  personal 
reluctance  to  so  general  a  wish  of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly 
thus  manifested.  But  as  it  is,  seeing  no  prospect  of  effecting  any  good 
by  such  an  address,  you  and  your  associates  will,  I  trust,  excuse  me  in 
declining.  My  reasons  need  not  be  stated ;  they  will  readily  suggest 
themselves  to  your  own  minds  upon  reflection. 

"  In  reference  to  the  subject  of  the  election  of  United  States  Senators, 
which  is  now  before  you,  allow  me  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  say 
to  you,  and  through  you  to  all  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  that 
I  cannot  give  my  consent  to  the  use  of  my  name  in  that  connection.  This 
inhibition  of  such  use  of  it  is  explicit  and  emphatic.  I  wish  it  so  under 
stood  by  all.  As  willingly  as  I  would  yield  my  own  contrary  inclinations 
to  what  I  am  assured  is  the  general  and  unanimous  wish  of  the  Legislature 


490  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

in  this  respect,  if  I  saw  any  prospect  of  niy  being  able,  by  thus  yielding, 
to  render  any  essential  service  to  the  people  of  Georgia ;  and  as  earnestly 
desirous  as  I  am  for  a  speedy  restoration  of  civil  law,  perfect  peace,  har 
mony,  and  prosperity  throughout  the  whole  country,  yet,  under  existing 
circumstances,  I  do  not  see  any  prospect  of  the  availability  of  my  services 
to  these  ends  in  any  public  position.  Moreover,  so  far  as  I  am  personally 
concerned,  I  do  not  think  it  proper  or  politic  that  the  election  should  be 
postponed  with  any  view  to  a  probable  change  of  present  circumstances 
or  a  probable  change  of  rny  position  on  the  subject ;  and  I  do  trust  that  no 
member  will  give  even  a  complimentary  vote  to  me  in  the  election. 

"  Yours  truly,         ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 

This  brought  another  application  in  the  following  form  : 

"  MILLEDGEVILLE,  January  29th,  1866. 
"HoN.  A.  II.  STEPHENS: 

"  ESTEEMED  SIR, — We  have  read  with  deep  regret  your  letter  to  the 
Legislature,  withholding  the  use  of  your  name  in  connection  with  the 
Senatorial  canvass ;  but  while  we  grant  to  you  the  right  of  refusing  a 
candidature  for  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  yet  at  the  same  time 
we  claim  to  have  also  the  right  to  bestow  upon  you  this  trust,  involving, 
as  it  does,  important  considerations.  We  feel,  sir,  that  a  vast  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  State  are  looking  to  you  as  the  man  for  the  crisis. 
As  the  representatives  of  that  constituency,  desirous  to  carry  out  this 
manifest  demonstration  of  the  public  will,  we  now  ask,  will  you  serve  if 
elected  ? 

"  II.  R.  CASEY,  P.  B.  BEDFORD. 

"  WM.  GIBSON,  0.  L.  SMITH, 

"CLAIBORNE  SNEAD,       GEO.  S.  OWENS, 
"JAMES  M.  RUSSELL,      J.  A.  W.  JOHNSON, 
"JESSE  A.  GLENN,  P.  J.  STROZER, 

"JOHN  0.  GARTRELL,      B.  A.  THORNTOIJ." 
"  BEN.  B.  MOORE, 

"  MILLEDGEVILLE,  GEORGIA.  January  29th,  1866. 
"  MESSRS.  II.  R.  CASEY,  WILLIAM  GIBSON,  and  others  : 

"  The  right  claimed  by  you  in  your  note  to  me,  of  this  date,  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  understood  as  at  all  calling  in  question. 

"In  reply  to  your  interrogatory.  I  can  only  say  that  I  cannot  imagine 
any  probable  case  in  which  I  would  refuse  to  serve,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  the  people  of  Georgia  in  any  position  which  might  be  assigned  to 
ine  by  them  or  their  representatives,'  whether  assigned  with  or  without 
my  consent.  Yours  truly, 

ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS." 

The  result  was  that  he  was  elected  for  the  long  term,  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  491 

Hon.  H.  V.  Johnson  being  his  colleague ;  but  was  not  alloweoVX 
to  take  his  seat  by  those  who  rejected  the  Executive  plan  of 
restoration,  and  were  determined  to  carry  out  one  of  their  own  ^ 
for  reconstruction  of  the  Union. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of 
the  Legislature,  Mr.  Stephens  addressed  that  body  and  a  large 
audience  in  the  Capitol  at  Milledgeville  on  the  state  of  the 
country.  This  speech,  one  of  the  most  important  of  his  life, 
we  give  at  length.* 

On  the  16th  of  April  he  was  summoned  before  the  "  Recon 
struction  Committee'7  of  Congress  to  testify  in  regard  to  the 
existing  state  of  affairs  in  the  South,  and  the  disposition  of  the 
people.  His  evidence,  which  was  published  in  full,f  showed 
the  anxiety  of  that  people  for  the  restoration  of  order  and  just 
government,  their  desire  to  return  to  the  Union  on  equal  terms, 
and  their  disposition  to  abide  in  good  faith  by  the  results  of  the 
war.  With  reference  to  himself,  he  said  : 

"My  convictions  on  the  original  abstract  question"  [as  to  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  States]  "have  undergone  no  change;  but  I  accept  the  issues 
of  the  war  and  the  result  as  a  practical  settlement  of  the  question." 

Or,  as  he  has  elsewhere  expressed  it : 

"  The  cause  which  was  lost  by  the  surrender  of  the  Confederates  was 
only  the  maintenance  of  this  principle*'  [that  of  a  Federation  of  Sovereign 
States]  "  by  arms.  It  was  not  the  principle  itself  that  they  abandoned. 
They  only  abandoned  their  attempt  to  maintain  it  by  physical  force." 

Speaking  of  some  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  time,  he  said  : 

"  Nobody  is  more  misunderstood  than  Seward.  He  is  frequently  spoken 
of  as*a  leader  of  public  opinion  ;  but  it  is  a  great  mistake, — it  leads  him. 
He  is  always  quick  to  see  its  drift,  and  when  he  does,  he  instantly  follows, 
and  seems  to  lead,  like  boys  at  a  military  procession,  who  seem  to  lead  the 
inarch  by  following  in  front  of  the  music." 

Of  President  Johnson  he  said  : 

.  .  .  "Johnson  prefers  to  do  things  indirectly.  He  looks  one  way  and 
rows  another.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  him  fully ;  but  I  think  he 
really  desires  to  see  the  South  restored  to  all  its  rights.  As  for  Stanton, 
he  is  a  monster  of  evil.  It  is  strange  the  influence  he  has  to  keep  himself 

*  See  Appendix  C.  f  See  Appendix  D. 


492  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

in  the  Cabinet.     In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Surratt  his  conduct  was  sickening  to 
humanity." 

Being  asked  if  he  still  retained  his  high  opinion  of  General 
Grant,  he  answered : 

"  I  do.  He  is  an  unsophisticated,  honest,  and,  I  think,  as  yet  unam 
bitious  man.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  development  for  Grant  yet.  He  is 
young,  and  will  yet  have  a  more  important  destiny  than  he  has  had  thus 
far.  I  do  not  doubt  that  he  is  a  patriot.  The  Radicals  pretend  to  claim 
him ;  but  they  know  that  he  is  not  with  them.  He  says  little  about 
politics,  but  what  he  does  say  is  to  the  point.  For  instance,  one  day  when 
I  called  to  see  him,  he  was  speaking  about  the  Radical  policy,  and  said. 
4  The  true  policy  should  be  to  make  friends  of  enemies.  The  policy  of 
the  present  majority  is  to  make  enemies  of  friends.'  One  of  the  party 
asked  him  if  it  was  true  that  he  had  been  fined  for  fast  driving  on  the 
street.  He  answered,  l  Yes,  I  was.  I  expect  the  next  thing  will  be  that 
they  will  take  me  before  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.'  " 

Mr.  Stephens  being  excluded  from  participation  in  public 
affairs,  and  too  much  of  an  invalid  to  resume  active  practice  at 
the  bar,  now  for  the  first  time  thought  of  turning  to  literary 
work.  While  in  Philadelphia  a  publisher  suggested  to  him  the 
preparation  of  a  history  of  the  war,  and  the  idea  struck  him 
not  unfavorably.  In  a  visit  which  R.  M.  J.  paid  him  in  De 
cember,  he  referred  to  it,  and  seemed  almost  determined  to 
undertake  it.  It  was  to  be  finished  within  a  year,  and  he 
thought  he  would  adopt  the  form  of  dialogue,  as  the  most 
animated. 

The  evenings  of  this  visit  were  mostly  spent  in  alternate 
readings  from  Cicero's  Tusculan  Disputations.  On  reaching  the 
second  book,  and  the  proposition  "Pain  is  no  evil,"  Mr. 
Stephens  remarked,  "  If  a  calculus  had  been  in  any  of  their 
kidneys,  they  would  have  thought  it  as  bad  as  I  do."  And  the 
reading  had  not  gone  very  far  before  we  arrived  at  the  defalca 
tion  of  Demetrius  to  the  Stoic  doctrine,  on  account  of  a  disorder 
of  his  kidneys ;  at  which  our  host  laughed  in  great  triumph  at 
this  verification  of  his  judgment. 

The  following  year,  1867,  opened  with  many  trials  for  Mr. 
Stephens.  His  health  was  worse ;  and  his  sufferings  from 
neuralgia,  and  his  old  enemy,  renal  calculus,  were  at  times 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  493 

extreme.  He  was  deeply  grieved  by  the  death  of  his  two  old 
servants  and  pensionaries,  Mat  and  Dick;  and  alludes  to  it 
with  great  feeling  in  most  of  his  letters  about  this  time.  The 
"  reconstruction"  policy  of  Congress  filled  him  with  gloomy 
forebodings. 

"  We  are  now,"  he  writes,  "just  entering  that  dark  region  in  our  future, 
that  impenetrable  cloud  in  our  destiny,  embracing  what  I  have  so  often 
spoken  of  to  you  as  the  ' pessimus*  point  in  our  affairs,  to  which  we  have 
been  tending  for  many  years.  From  the  hideous  outlines  of  the  portentous 
prospect  the  soul  instinctively  recoils  as  from  the  visage  of  death.  Our 
political  doom  is  sealed :  the  great  and  dreaded  night  has  corne  upon  us. 
My  soul  is  in  anguish  at  the  death  of  American  constitutional  liberty  1" 

He  sought  refuge  from  these  gloomy  thoughts  in  the  prepara 
tion  of  his  history  of  the  war,  on  which  he  worked  as  assidu 
ously  as  his  health  would  allow.  Had  his  health  and  political 
status  permitted,  he  would  have  had  his  hands  full  of  business 
in  the  Federal  courts,  in  which  a  plentiful  crop  of  litigation 
sprang  up  from  the  suits  instituted  by  creditors  of  the  North, 
especially  in  the  "  cotton  cases."  In  one  or  two  of  these  Mr. 
Stephens,  though  he  could  not  plead  before  the  court,  was  re 
tained  as  advisory  counsel,  with  Mr.  Toombs,  who  was  equally 
incapacitated. 

By  December  the  manuscript  of  the  first  volume  of  his  history 
was  ready  for  the  press,  and  he  went  on  to  Philadelphia.  His 
friend,  Mr.  Johnston,  had  by  this  time  removed  to  the  vicinity 
of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Stephens  arranged  to  stay  at  his  house 
while  the  work  was  passing  through  the  press,  and  there  correct 
the  proofs. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

Publication  of  First  Volume  of  his  History  of  the  "War — An  Accident — 
Attacks  upon  him — The  Southern  Review — Replies — Elected  Professor 
in  University  of  Georgia — Declines — Opinion  of  the  Linton  Correspond 
ence — Attacked  with  Inflammatory  Rheumatism — Proposes  Final  Retire 
ment  from  Public  Life — A  Severe  Trial — History  finished — Another  be 
gun — Law  Students — Connection  with  the  Western  Atlantic  Railway — 
Judge  Stephens  arrested,  but  no  Bill  found — Letter  to  his  Students — 
Opinion  of  President  Grant — The  Atlanta  Sun. 

MR.  STEPHENS  spent  the  winter  of  1867-68  and  a  part  of  the 
following  spring  in  Philadelphia,  superintending  the  publication 
of  his  Constitutional  History  of  the  War.  He  suffered  severely 
from  the  consequences  of  a  fall  upon  the  ice,  and  was  under  a 
physician's  hands  a  great  part  of  the  time.  Early  in  April  he 
returned  to  Crawfordville. 

After  the  appearance  of  the  first  volume  of  his  History, 
articles  appeared  in  some  Southern  publications  attacking  the 
author  on  various  grounds,  but  especially  on  account  of  what 
some  imagined  to  be  his  views  upon  the  subject  of  the  ratifi 
cation  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment  of  Congress  by  the 
Radical  Legislature  of  Georgia.  He  thus  alludes  to  these 
articles  in  a  letter : 

August  3d. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  .  .  .  "  The  truth  is,  there  seems  to  be  a  great 
covert  spite  against  me  by  a  certain  class  of  our  politicians.  This  is 
shown  in  a  striking  manner  by  several  of  their  papers  throughout  the 
South  in  starting  and  propagating  slanders  against  rne.  ...  They  were 
all  equally  groundless  and  false ;  or  at  least  they  had  this  ground  and 
this  only  to  rest  upon:  I  had  expressed  the  opinion  in  Atlanta  that  it 
would  be  best  for  the  State  and  for  the  whole  country  that  the  Radicals 
in  the  Legislature  should  adopt  the  Constitutional  Amendment.  I  advised 
no  Democrat  to  vote  for  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  urged  all  I  saw  and  talked 
with — and  they  were  few — to  vote  against  it.  I  said  that  if  I  were  in  the 
place  of  any  one  of  them,  I  would  not  vote  for  it.  That  would  be  endors 
ing  what  I  thought  utterly  unconstitutional.  But  if  my  not  voting  against 
it  would  permit  the  Radicals  to  pass  it,  I  would  not  vote  on  the  question. 
494 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  495 

To  defeat  it  at  this  step  of  the  question  could  do  us  no  possible  good  that 
1  could  see,  but  might  do  us  harm.  It  would  continue  us  under  military 
rule,  and  would  put  it  out  of  our  power  to  aid  in  electing  Seymour,  which 
we  might  do  if  the  election  was  left  to  the  people  and  our  counsels 
prevailed  in  the  canvass. 

u  Enough  States  had  already  adopted  it  to  make  it  part  of  the  Consti 
tution  in  case  it  should  be  held  to  be  valid.  Georgia's  action  therefore  would 
not  affect  that  question.  The  great  and  vital  question  now  was  to  elect  the 
Democratic  nominees.  If  they  carried  the  country,  this  Constitutional 
Amendment  would  be  held  to  be  a  nullity.  Its  passage,  therefore,  by  the 
Radicals  in  our  State  could  not  possibly  do  us  any  practical  harm,  and  its 
adoption  by  them  would  not  only  remove  us  from  under  military  govern 
ment,  but  enable  us,  if  we  were  wise,  materially  to  aid,  by  nine  electoral 
votes,  to  bring  those  into  power  who  would  hold  it,  as  we  did,  null  and  void 
from  the  beginning. 

4i  Divers  other  reasons  I  gave  why  statesmanship  should  be  directed  to 
the  policy  of  letting  the  Radicals  pass  it.  One  was  that  if  the  Radical 
nominees  were  elected  to  the  offices  of  President  and  Vice-President,  we 
could  not  expect  to  get  a  better  State  Constitution  than  that  which  we  now 
have.  Under  it  all  whites,  as  well  as  blacks,  are  entitled  to  vote.  If  this 
Constitution  should  be  rejected,  another,  disfranchising  a  large  class  of 
whites,  as  in  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  might  be  put  upon  us.  While  this 
would  be  no  reason  for  me  to  vote  for  what  I  believed  to  be  unconstitu 
tional,  yet  it  would  be  a  reason  why  I  should  not  vote  at  all." 

In  the  Southern  Review  for  October  of  tin's  year  there  ap 
peared  an  article  from  the  pen  of  the  senior  editor,  Dr.  A.  T. 
Bleclsoe,  criticising  with  much  asperity  and  some  personal  feel 
ing  the  first  volume  of  Mr.  Stephens's  History.  In  reference 
to  this,  Mr.  Stephens  writes : 

October  llth. — (To  R.  M.  J.)  .  .  .  "It  is  my  intention  to  reply,  under  my 
own  name,  to  Dr.  Bledsoe's  tirade  against  the  Constitutional  View;  or 
rather  his  attack  on  me  under  guise  of  reviewing  the  book.  While  the 
occasion  and  provocation  might  justify  considerable  passion,  yet  he  shall 
see  that  I  can  and  will  show  up  his  outrages  on  me  with  as  much  cold 
bloodedness  as  that  with  which  I  have  exhibited  the  enormous  and  infa 
mous  wrongs  of  those  who  wielded  the  Federal  authority  in  the  subjugation 
of  the  Southern  States.  As  my  object  in  the  former  case  was  not  to  dis 
gust  the  world  with  my  own  passions,  however  deep  and  intense,  but  to 
present  truth  in  such  a  light  as  to  arouse  the  just  indignation  of  all  can 
did  and  unprejudiced  minds  by  such  a  wanton  violation  of  justice  and 
right  as  the  war  was,  so  will  it  be  in  the  other.  My  vindication  against 
Dr.  Bledsoe's  assertions  and  misrepresentations  shall  be  as  full  and  com 
plete  as  the  vindication  of  our  cause  in  the  Constitutional  View  is  against 


496  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

all  the  malign  assaults  of  our  enemies ;  and  it  shall  be  equally  temperate 
in  manner  and  expression." 

In  his  reference  to  "  cold-bloodedness/'  Mr.  Stephens  alludes 
to  a  passage  in  which  the  reviewer  had  referred  contemptuously 
to  the  uni  til  passioned  style  in  which  the  historian  discussed  the 
great  questions  involved.  His  reply  to  the  article  in  the  Review 
was  published  in  the  Baltimore  Statesman,  and  evoked  a  rejoin 
der  from  the  reviewer.  These  papers,  with  replies  to  other  critics, 
were  afterwards  published  by  Mr.  Stephens  in  a  volume  entitled 
The  Reviewers  Reviewed. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  Mr.  Stephens  was  elected  Pro 
fessor  of  Political  Science  and  History  in  the  University  of 
Georgia,  which  had  previously  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Lawrs.  In  reference  to  this  and  the  previous  subject 
he  writes : 

December  28th.— (To  R.  M.  J.)  ..."  I  expect  to  go  to  Athens  to-mor 
row  to  look  into  matters  touching  the  Professorship  before  deciding  on  my 
acceptance  of  it.  ...  I  don't  intend  to  notice  Dr.  Bledsoe's  '  Rejoinder,' 
so  called.  I  laid  it  aside  on  first  perusal  to  take  it  up  afterwards  in  order 
to  see  if  there  was  really  anything  in  it  that  would  justify  a  notice  from 
me.  On  a  careful  examination  I  can  see  nothing  of  the  kind.  His  posi 
tion  in  asserting  that  there  is  an  inconsistency  between  the  speech  and  the 
book,  on  the  question  of  secession,  is  astonishing  to  me." 

He  was,  however,  compelled  to  decline  the  Professorship  by  a 
severe  attack  of  rheumatism  early  in  1869,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  suffered  for  years. 

The  year  1869  found  Mr.  Stephens  in  worse  health  than  ever. 
On  January  5th  he  thus  wrote  to  R.  M.  J. : 

"  I  have  been  very  badly  off  lately,  and  am  now  hardly  able  to  sit  up. 
...  I  shall  not  accept  the  Professorship.  I  am  not  now  able  to  walk, 
except  to  hobble  about  the  house.  Pain  in  the  knee.  I  cannot  assume  the 
duties  of  the  chair  in  the  University.  Moreover,  I  could  not  live  upon  the 
salary." 

At  Mr.  Johnston's  request,  Mr.  Stephens  had  obtained  all  that 
could  be  procured  of  his  correspondence  with  Linton,  for  the 
biography  for  which  Mr.  J.  was  collecting  material.  In  January 
of  this  year  he  received  a  considerable  package  of  these  letters 
accompanied  by  a  note,  in  which  they  are  thus  alluded  to : 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  497 

"  I  glanced  over  the  last  cursorily,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
my  character  was  more  completely  embodied  in  them  than  any  personal 
likeness  was  ever  set  forth  by  daguerreotype  or  photograph.  They  ex 
pressed  the  most  secret  thoughts  of  my  heart  without  reserve  upon  many 
questions,  public  and  private.  ...  I  was  almost  ama/ed  at  finding  that  I 
had  said  so  little  that  I  would  now  wish  unsaid,  or  would  even  wish  to  see 
modified  in  any  way.  What  I  said  of  Judge  Story  I  would  not  modify  in 
the  slightest  degree  ;  and  yet  when  I  wrote  these  letters  I  had  never  read 
that  portion  of  his  Commentaries  upon  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
which  treats  of  our  early  history,  and  which  I  so  thoroughly  review  in  my 
work.  At  that  time,  too,  I  did  not  think  very  well  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  I 
never  understood  his  character  until  I  read  his  life  by  Randall  many  years 
afterwards.  It  was  not  published,  I  think,  until  1858  or  1859.  .  .  .  This 
is  all  the  explanation  I  have  to  make  about  anything  you  may  see  in  these 
letters. 

"  ...  I  have  formally  declined  the  Professorship,  at  least  for  the 
present.  I  had  a  very  severe  attack  of  my  old  disease  two  days  ago,  and 
am  now  barely  able  to  be  up." 

Mr.  Stephens  had  just  recovered  strength  enough  to  be  about 
a  little,  when  he  was  again  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  acute  in 
flammatory  rheumatism,  aggravated  by  an  accident,  in  which  the 
sciatic  nerve  was  seriously  injured.  From  this  attack  he  suffered 
excruciating  pain,  and  was  rendered  helpless.  Its  effects  kept 
him  confined  to  the  house  for  four  years. 

On  March  12th  he  writes: 

"  I  am  still  almost  helpless.  I  cannot  move  the  body  without  assistance. 
This  I  write  propped  up  with  pillows.  I  fear  it  will  be  a  long  time  before 
I  get  on  foot  again,  if  I  ever  do.  I  am  weak,  and  grow  weaker,  it  seems, 
every  day,  and  have  no  lessening  of  the  pain.  You  ask  if  I  feel  lonely. 
No,  I  do  not.  I  read  a  little  every  day,  and  scribble  a  little  too.  .  .  .  The 
delay  of  my  work  worries  me  a  great  deal.  But  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
not  to  be  worried  with  it.  I  have  directed  all  the  MS.  to  be  burned,  except 
a  small  part,  in  case  I  should  not  be  able  to  finish  it.  The  part  excepted 
is  the  chapter  on  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference." 

March  16th. —  .  .  .  "As  for  myself  I  am  so-so;  and  every  day .  in 
creases  my  apprehension  that  I  am  to  be  an  invalid  the  rest  of  my  life.  I 
mean  that  I  am  to  be  a  cripple,  and  never  to  be  on  foot  as  of  yore.  An 
invalid  I  have  been  all  my  days.  With  assistance,  I  can  get  out  of  bed 
and  sit  up  in  a  chair  supported  by  pillows,  and  can  move  from  chair  to 
chair  in  the  room.  But -I  see  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  walk  again 
soon.  I  can  do  nothing  on  the  History  in  this  condition." 

Notwithstanding  his  illness,  he  worked  vigorously  upon  his 

32 


498  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

second  volume  whenever  he  was  able  to  dictate  to  an  amanuensis. 
On  June  22d  he  writes : 

"  I  am  barely  able  to  be  up:  cannot  walk  or  stand  without  assistance  of 
some  sort.  I  am  at  work,  however,  part  of  most  of  the  days.  Some  days 
I  can  do  nothing." 

And  thus  in  great  physical  weakness  and  suffering,  but  de 
voting  every  hour  of  comparative  ease  to  his  duties,  or  to  the 
task  he  had  set  himself  of  showing  the  world  what  the  cause  of 
the  Southern  States  really  was,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  this 
year. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  Mr.  Johnston  spent  several  days 
with  Mr.  Stephens.  Though  still  confined  to  his  house,  and 
apprehending  that  he  should  never  be  able  to  leave  it  again,  he 
had  never  seemed  more  serene.  The  first  volume  of  his  book 
had  had  a  large  sale,  and  this  gratified  him,  as  well  as  the 
encomiums  it  deservedly  received.  (  Perhaps  never  has  the  his 
tory  of  a  great  struggle,  both  political  and  military,  been  written 
by  one  of  its  leaders  with  equal  candor  and  impartiality^  By 
the  mouths  of  his  interlocutors  he  has  stated  the  case  of  his 
opponents  in  the  language  of  their  ablest  men  ;  he  never  con 
descends  to  passion,  declamation,  or  subterfuge,  but  builds  an 
unanswerable  argument  upon  the  solid  ground  of  fact  and  his 
tory.  While  candidly  admitting  certain  errors  that,  in  his 
opinion,  the  South  committed,  he  proves  incontestably  that  her 
cause  was  the  cause  of  justice  and  of  right;  and  whether  the 
last  emergency  did  or  did  not  make  the  appeal  to  the  sword 
necessary,  she  can  never  be  justly  accused  of  a  want  of  patience 
and  forbearance  in  the  previous  years. 

Mr.  Stephens  at  this  time  seemed  to  feel  that  all  public  and 
out-door  work  was  over  for  him,  and  he  not  merely  resignedly, 
but  even  cheerfully  contemplated  the  prospect  of  absolute  re 
tirement  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  This  retirement,  however,  was 
not  to  be  inactive.  Although  his  income  more  than  sufficed  for 
his  personal  needs,  yet  his  lavish  contributions  for  charitable 
purposes,  and  the  expense  of  keeping  an  open  house  for  all, 
whether  friends  or  strangers,  who  claimed  his  hospitality,  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  work  as  long  as  work  was  possible. 


LIFE    OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  499 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  his  first  book,  he  had  thoughts 
of  devoting  himself  to  literary  labor.  Far  from  being  dispirited 
by  the  prospect  of  a  life-long  confinement,  he  was  surprised  to 
find  himself  so  free  from  the  desire  to  return  to  the  active  life 
of  the  world  and  mingle  again  in  society. 

On  a  single  occasion  this  serenity  was  interrupted.  There 
was  one  subject  on  which  he  had  never  hitherto  spoken  to  his 
friend  and  guest,  although  on  all  others  he  opened  his  heart  to 
him  without  reserve.  In  the  course  of  intimate  conversation 
reference  was  made  to  the  strangely  sorrowful,  even  despairing 
tone  in  which,  in  many  of  his  letters  to  his  brother,  he  had 
spoken  of  his  inner  life,  and  especially  that  in  which  the  word 
"revenge"  is  used;  and  his  friend  intimated  that  he  must  have 
had  some  trials  more  painful  than  any  that  had  been  made 
known,  to  justify  such  poignant  and  hopeless  anguish.  Grad 
ually  his  friend  drew  from  him  the  admission — confirming  his 
own  suspicion — that  his  greatest  griefs  had  grown  out  of  the 
peculiar  circumstances  which,  as  he  conceived,  forbade  his  ever 
marrying.  He  was  by  nature  ardent  in  the  admiration  and  love 
of  woman ;  and  we  have  seen  how,  in  the  miserable  time  at 
Madison,  he  had  conceived  a  strong  attachment  to  one  of  his 
pupils,  a  girl  of  great  beauty.  But  his  poverty  and  feeble  con 
stitution  made  him  shrink  from  any  avowal,  or  even  intimation 
of  his  ieelihgs ;  and,  as  has  been  told,  he  left  that  village  to 
return  no  more.  He  looked  upon  the  circumstances  we  have 
indicated,  and  his  anticipation  of  an  early  death,  as  debarring 
him  from  all  thoughts  or  hopes  of  marriage.  It  so  happened 
that  his  eminent  talents  and  his  rapid  attainment  of  distinction 
and  prosperity  threw  him  into  the  society  of  the  leading  families 
of  the  Northern  Circuit;  and  several  opportunities  for  a  suitable 
marriage  were  presented  to  him,  but  he  adhered  to  his  determi 
nation  to  lead  a  single  life.  Years  later,  when  he  had  long  been 
a  distinguished  member  of  Congress,  in  spite  of  all  his  resolu 
tion,  he  grew  deeply  interested  in  a  lady  of  uncommon  loveliness 
both  of  character  and  person,  who,  he  had  reason  to  believe, 
entertained  a  reciprocal  feeling  toward  himself;  but  apprehend 
ing  that  even  if  she  should  consent  to  share  his  life,  he  might 
soon  become  an  invalid  to  be  nursed,  rather  than  a  husband  to 


500  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   1L  STEPHENS. 

be  looked  to  for  support,  he  forbore  the  expression  of  his  love, 
and  adhered  to  his  resolution.  It  was  during  his  struggle 
between  this  passion  and  his  resolve  that  he  wrote  the  letter 
referred  to.  His  friend  still  urging  that  the  causes  named  were 
scarcely  of  weight  to  render  so  great  a  sacrifice  imperative,  he 
answered  with  a  single  word — "  Pride  I" 

And  thus,  by  a  perhaps  exaggerated  sensitiveness,  his  affec 
tionate  nature  denied  itself  the  very  solace  and  companionship 
which  it  most  craved,  and  his  baffled  longings  at  times  turned 
upon  him  and  rent  him.  Even  his  beloved  brother,  who  filled 
so  large  a  space  in  his  heart,  had  never  known  that  heart's 
saddest  mystery  until  after  the  receipt  of  that  letter  which  he 
could  not  quite  understand. 

By  the  first  of  the  new  year,  1870,  Mr.  Stephens  had  finished 
the  greater  part  of  the  second  volume  of  his  History,  in  spite 
not  only  of  his  frequent  attacks  of  sickness  and  of  pain,  but 
also  of  the  interruption  occasioned  by  a  continual  flow  of  visitors 
to  Liberty  Hall.  On  January  23d  he  writes  to  R.  M.  J. : 

u  I  have  been  very  much  annoyed  by  company.  Two  or  three  strangers 
have  been  here  all  the  time  visiting :  I  should  say,  however,  that  only  one 
of  them  was  an  absolute  stranger." 

This  stranger,  he  goes  on  to  explain,  had  come  on  an  errand 
of  benevolence.  He  was  a  physician,  who  believed  that  by  a 
particular  mode  of  treatment  he  could  relieve  Mr.  Stephens  of 
the  ill  effects  of  his  accident,  and  had  come  a  great  distance  to 
ask  to  be  allowed  to  try  it.  "To  gratify  him,"  as  he  writes, 
Mr.  Stephens  consented  to  undergo  the  treatment,  but  not  with 
the  results  promised. 

"  It  has  done  me  no  good.  Indeed,  I  am  worse  off  than  I  was  before, 
and  have  quit  it.  This  is  the  present  situation.  I  am  at  this  time  right 
badly  off,  but  hope  to  be  better  soon." 

February  26th. — More  company,  and  among  the  rest  a  cor 
respondent  of  the  New  York  Herald. 

"  I  feel  exceedingly  annoyed  by  this  visit.  I  told  him  I  did  not  wish  him 
to  make  me  an  object  of  his  correspondence,  and  how  much  I  was  annoyed 
by  such  things.  I  was  almost  rude  to  him  in  the  positiveness  with  which  I 
expressed  myself  on  that  subject.  What  he  will  do  I  cannot  say,  for  there 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS  5Q1 

is  no  telling  what  this  class  of  men  will  do.  ...  P.S. — I  forgot  to  tell 
you  my  old  dog  Troup  is  dead.  He  died  the  night  before  iny  attack,  worn 
out  with  old  age." 

April  llth, — "  I  have  just  time  enough  to  say  before  the  mail  closes. 
and  just  strength  enough  also  to  say,  that  the  book  is  done.  The  last 
sheets  went  off  by  express  this  morning.  ...  I  have  been  in  a  bad  way 
lately,  and  could  do  nothing:  hence  the  delay.  What  the  papers  said 
about  my  health  was  all  utterly  false.  When  they  said  I  was  better  I  was 
greatly  worse." 

After  completing  the  second  volume  of  his  History,  Mr. 
Stephens  was  requested  by  some  gentlemen  who  were  preparing 
a  School  History  of  the  United  States  to  look  over  the  manu 
script,  and  suggest  such  changes  as  he  thought  advisable.  The 
result  was  that  he  determined  to  write  such  a  history  himself, — 
an  undertaking  which  took  more  time  than  he  had  expected. 
In  September  he  writes  : 

"  You  ask  me  what  I  expect  to  do  when  I  get  through  with  the  .School 
History.  Well,  I  do  not  exactly  know.  If  in  life,  I  shall  do  what  my 
hands  may  find  to  do  at  that  time.  I  cannot  be  idle.  I  am  compelled  to 
do  something  in  some  department  of  labor  for  a  support  while  I  remain 
here ;  and  I  prefer  that  sort  of  work  which,  in  my  opinion,  will  be  most 
useful  to  mankind,  while  it  yields  a  comfortable  living." 

October  10th. — "  I  have  another  little  matter  on  hand, — a  little  matter 
of  recreation.  I  have  five  lawr-students  in  my  office,  to  whom  I  devote 
about  one  hour  every  evening  when  I  am  able.  ...  I  make  no  charge  against 
them  for  instruction  or  use  of  books.  I  do  what  I  can  for  them  by  way 
of  recreation  from  my  own  labors,  and  they  agree  to  reimburse  me  here 
after  for  their  board.  .  .  .  The  order  of  the  day  is  close  application  to 
books  and  work  during  the  morning,  recitation  and  conversation  during 
the  afternoon,  and  whist  at  night.  I  cannot  use  my  eyes  in  reading  or 
writing  by  candle-  or  gas-light,  so  we  have  a  whist-party  every  night.'' 

Iii  the  early  part  of  the  year  1871,  Mr.  Stephens,  who  was 
still  confined  to  his  house  by  the  results  of  his  late  attack,  was 
surprised  to  find  himself  the  subject  of  censure  in  some  quarters 
on  account  of  his  connection  with  the  Western  Atlantic  Railway, 
commonly  called  the  State  Road,  as  it  was  the  property  of  the 
State  of  Georgia.  The  management  of  this  road  during  the 
period  in  which  the  State  endured  the  system  of  organized  out 
rage  called  "  reconstruction"  had  been  of  a  kind  quite  in  keeping 
with  the  other  administrative  measures,  and  with  such  results 
as  to  make  the  need  of  prompt  reform  highly  urgent.  In 


502  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 

accordance  with  the  almost  unanimous  wish  of  the  Democratic 
party,  a  bill  had  been  passed  in  the  last  Legislature  authorizing 
the  lease  of  the  road,  upon  sufficient  guarantees,  for  a  sum  not 
less  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  per  month.  A  statement 
appeared  in  the  papers  that  Governor  Brown  proposed  to  organize 
a  company  to  bid  for  the  lease;  and  seeing  this,  Mr.  Stephens 
wrote  to  the  Governor  that  he  would  like  to  be  one  of  this 
company,  and  would  take  an  interest  uto  the  extent  of  his 
property,  which,  over  and  above  all  liabilities,  he  thought  was 
ten  thousand  dollars."  He  advised  the  bidding  to  be  carried  to 
forty  thousand  dollars,  if  the  Governor  thought  it  worth  it.  He 
added,  however,  the  provision  that  if  any  member  of  the  com 
pany  objected  to  his  being  interested  in  the  scheme,  his  name 
should  not  be  presented.  In  his  answer  the  Governor  said  that, 
taking  all  the  risks  into  account,  he  did  not  consider  that  the 
company  could  safely  bid  higher  than  the  minimum  fixed  by 
the  Legislature,  and  this  was  what  he  proposed  to  offer.  Shortly 
after  Mr.  Stephens  heard  that  the  offer  had  been  made  and 
accepted  by  the  Governor,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  lessees. 

A  cry  was  soon  raised  in  certain  quarters  that  this  transaction 
was  "a  swindle,"  and  that  a  more  liberal  offer  had  been  made 
by  other  parties  and  not  accepted.  The  conspicuous  position 
occupied  by  Mr.  Stephens  made  him  a  special  mark  for  these 
assaults,  to  which  he  replied  by  a  letter,  rehearsing  the  facts  of 
the  case  as  given  above,  and  adding  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  transaction  beyond  them  ;  that  the  measure  while  before 
the  Legislature,  and  while  the  advertisement  for  bids  was  in 
the  papers,  had  been  freely  commented  on  by  the  press,  and  no 
charge  brought  of  unfair  dealing,  nor  had  he  seen  any  cause  for 
suspicion  that  the  transaction  was  not  perfectly  fair  and  above- 
board.  A  few  days  after  this  letter,  he  was  shown  a  written 
statement  by  certain  parties  in  Atlanta,  averring  that  they  had 
put  in  a  bid  for  the  lease  of  the  road  at  thirty -four  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  per  month,  tendering  ample  security.  Upon 
receipt  of  this  statement  Mr.  Stephens  was  led  to  suspect  that 
there  had  been  unfair  dealing,  and  he  at  once  transferred  his 
whole  interest,  being  one-fourth  of  one  share,  to  the  State  of 
Georgia,  thus  ending  the  matter. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  11.  STEPHENS.  5Q3 

The  Republican  party  had  been  very  desirous  of  carrying 
the  elections  in  Georgia  in  the  fall  of  1870,  and  to  secure  this 
end  had  recourse  to  their  familiar  tactics.  One  of  their  favorite 
devices,  that  of  exciting  the  hostility  of  the  blacks  against  the 
whites,  failed  of  its  usual  success.  The  relations  between  the 
races  in  Georgia  differed  from  those  in  South  Carolina  and 
Alabama;  the  land  in  Georgia  was  divided  into  smaller  planta 
tions,  and  the  climate  of  these  was  for  the  most  part  healthy, 
so  that  the  planters  resided  on  their  own  lands,  and  were  thus 
brought  into  closer  contact  with  the  negroes,  who  were  therefore 
less  easy  to  deceive  as  to  their  feelings  toward  them.  There  was 
also  a  considerable  number  of  intelligent  and  determined  men 
who  had  resolved  that  the  State  elections  should  be  held  in  con 
formity  with  the  laws  of  the  State.  Among  these  was  Linton 
Stephens,  who  caused  one  of  the  leaders  of  those  who  attempted 
to  violate  the  laws  to  be  arrested  and  carried  before  a  magistrate. 
This  prompt  action  discouraged  the  rest  of  the  party,  and  the 
Conservatives  carried  the  election.  Linton  Stephens  was  soon 
after  arrested  under  a  Federal  warrant  for  violating  the  Enforce 
ment  Acts,  and  had  a  hearing  before  the  United  States  com 
missioner  at  Macon.  On  this  occasion  he  made  one  of  the  ablest 
constitutional  arguments  ever  made  in  the  United  States,  which 
will  ever  remain  a  monument  to  his  memory.  These  facts 
explain  the  following  letter  : 

January  30th. — "  I  suppose  you  have  seen  that  Linton  was  required  to 
give  bond  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  for  his  appearance  at  the 
next  Federal  Circuit  Court  in  Savannah,  in  April,  to  answer  the  charge. 
This  is  nothing  more  than  I  expected.  It  is  part  of  the  programme  of  the 
powers  at  Washington  and  Atlanta.  As  to  final  results,  I  give  myself 
very  little  uneasiness.  Let  them  do  as  they  may,  it  will  but  add  to  the 
reputation  of  him  who  is  the  object  of  their  wrath.  The  penalty,  in  case 
of  conviction,  is  a  fine  of  five  hundred  dollars,  or  three  years'  imprisonment, 
or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court.  In  the  worst  form  it  can  take,  his 
is  the  greater  honor  as  the  victim  of  tyrannical  vengeance.  But  I  have  no 
serious  apprehensions  that  there  will  be  any  conviction :  the  law  and  the 
justice  of  the  case  too  strongly  forbid  it.  Still,  there  is  no  telling  to  what 
extremes  faction,  in  its  madness  and  folly,  may  be  driven.  Packed  juries 
seldom  fail  to  obey  orders,  ^rreat  crises  must  be  met  with  fortitude  by  all 
who  value  true  fame  above^crsonal  sacrifices  Usurpations  must  be  de 
nounced  and  put  down  through  the  judicial-tribunals  if  possible.  Those 


504  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

who  fall  in  that  arena  deserve  as  high  a  place  on  the  roll  of  honor  as  those 
who  give  their  blood  for  the  same  cause  on  the  field  of  battle ;  and  in 
my  judgment  no  man  deserves  to  be  free  who  would  not,  when  occasion 
required  it,  be  perfectly  willing  to  do  either." 

In  April  the  grand  jury  found  No  Bill  in  Linton's  case,  and 
so  the  matter  ended,  the  object,  which  was  to  intimidate,  having 
failed. 

In  the  same  month  the  five  young  gentlemen  who  were  study 
ing  law  with  Mr.  Stephens,  and  formed  his  family,  addressed 
him  a  note,  asking  him  to  embody  in  a  letter,  for  subsequent 
publication,  the  remarks  which  he  had  made  to  them  at  the 
beginning  of  their  studies,  on  the  great  principles  which  are  the 
foundation  of  all  law,  whether  municipal,  federal,  or  interna 
tional,  and  on  the  duties  incumbent  upon  members  of  the  legal 
profession.  With  this  request  he  complied,  and  his  letter  was 
published  in  pamphlet  form.  He  handles  the  subjects  with  his 
accustomed  breadth  and  clearness,  and  calls  their  attention  to  the 
peculiarities  introduced  into  the  structure  of  our  laws  by  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  Government,  as  an  organic  Federation 
of  Sovereign  Powers. 

Mr.  Stephens's  feeble  state  of  health  continued  through  this 
year,  and  he  suffered  almost  constant  pain  from  the  results  of 
his  attack.  The  probability  that  he  should  never  be  able  again 
to  leave  his  house  seemed  almost  a  certainty,  but  his  cheerfulness 
was  even  greater  than  usual. 

In  this  spring  he  was  gratified  by  seeing  a  very  able  and  ap 
preciative  review  of  the  second  volume  of  his  Constitutional 
View  of  the  War  in  the  London  Saturday  Review.  The  re 
viewer  gave  a  brief  but  compendious  abstract  of  the  argument, 
praised  the  fairness  with  which  the  historian  had  stated  the 
strongest  points  of  the  opposite  side,  and  confessed  that  he  had 
proved  that  throughout  the  whole  political  struggle  the  North 
had  been  the  aggressor  and  the  South  had  acted  on  the  defensive, 
and  that  he  had  sustained  this  doctrine  with  "an  unequalled 
knowledge  of  facts,  an  abundant  collection  of  authorities,  and 
remarkable  clearness  of  constitutional  reasoning."  The  article 
concludes  thus :  "  On  the  whole,  no  contribution  to  the  history 
of  the  civil  war  of  equal  value  has  as  yet  been  made,  or  is  likely 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  5Q5 

to  be  made,  unless  some  one  of  General  Lee's  few  surviving 
lieutenants  should  one  day  do  for  the  military  history  of  this 
struggle  what  Mr.  Stephens  has  done  for  its  political  aspect." 

In  the  passages  of  this  work  referring  to  the  Hampton  Roads 
Conference,  it  has  been  mentioned  that  Mr.  Stephens  had  formed 
a  higher  opinion  of  the  intelligence  of  General  Grant  than  was 
at  that  time  generally  entertained.  He  always  maintained  that 
the  latter  was  destined  to  exercise  a  very  important  influence,  for 
good  or  evil,  upon  the  destinies  of  the  country;  that,  while  he 
judged  him  to  be  not  naturally  ambitious,  he  was  earnest  of 
purpose,  combative  by  nature,  impatient  of  all  opposition,  and 
being  a  purely  military  man,  little  acquainted  with  political 
science,  should  lie  attain  an  exalted  position  with  unscrupulous 
leaders  to  urge  him  on  by  taking  advantage  of  his  weaknesses,  he 
might  be  led  to  break  through  constitutional  limitations.  The 
acts  of  Congress,  which,  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing, 
scarcely  deigned  to  veil  its  determination  to  perpetuate  the  rule 
of  the  majority  in  defiance  of  Constitution  and  law,  and  the 
high-handed  usurpations  which  Federal  officials  had  lately  been 
practising  in  the  South,  seemed  to  Mr.  Stephens  to  indicate  that 
the  President  was  tending  toward  the  worse  of  the  alternatives 
he  had  predicted.  On  the  2d  of  March  he  thus  writes  to  R. 
M.  J. : 

"  You  ask  what  I  now  think  of  Grant.  I  think  of  him  just  as  I  did  on 
first  acquaintance.  My  opinion  of  the  man  has  not  changed,  either  as  to 
his  ability  or  future  career  since  our  interview  at  City  Point,  in  1865.  I 
am  now  inclined  to  think,  from  his  surroundings,  that  his  policy  is  tending 
to  empire,  and  whether  he  will  succeed  or  not  will  depend  upon  whether 
there  are  brains  and  patriotism  enough  combined  in  the  land  to  defeat  his 
purpose.  I  have  not  yet  reached  a  satisfactory  solution  of  this  question. 
I  am  upon  it  as  I  was  upon  the  question  of  our  success  during  the  war. 
/The  difficulty  was  not  with  the  people,  but  with  their  leaders/\An  over 
whelming  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  devoted  to  the 
institutions  of  their  ancestors,  and  are  utterly  opposed  to  anything  like 
monarchy  or  imperialism.  All  they  want  to  drive  usurpers  from  power 
is  the  lead  of  bold,  wise,  sagacious,  discreet,  patriotic  standard-bearers, 
through  constitutional  channels  and  instrumentalities." 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  purchased  an  interest 
in  the  Atlanta  Sun,  a  daily  newspaper,  and  became  its  political 


506  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS 

editor.  His  co-proprietors  were  Messrs.  Archibald  M.  Speights 
and  J.  Henly  Smith.  His  object  was  to  exert  his  influence  in 
preventing  the  proposed  coalition  of  the  Democrats  with  the 
Liberal  or  anti-Grant  Republicans,  and  maintaining  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  Democracy.  Of  that  insensate  and  unlucky 
coalition,  afterwards  notorious  as  the  "  New  Departure,"  more 
will  be  said  presently. 

For  the  rest  of  this  year  there  is  nothing  of  general  interest 
in  the  correspondence,  nor  did  any  change  of  moment  occur  in 
Mr.  Stephens's  life.  He  was  still  confined  to  his  house,  though 
able  at  times  to  move  about  a  little  on  crutches,  and  employed 
his  time  in  writing  for  his  paper,  and  preparing  his  School  His 
tory  of  the  United  States.  He  had  noticed  a  serious  defect  in 
works  of  this  class,  which  confined  their  account  of  post-revolu 
tionary  events  chiefly  to  the  Presidential  elections  and  the  ad 
mission  of  new  States,  without  giving  any  clear  narrative  of  the 
political  history, — the  rise,  aims,  and  struggles  of  the  great  par 
ties,  which  really  constitute  the  history  of  the  country.  Much 
of  our  trouble  was  doubtless  due  to  the  almost  universal  igno 
rance  on  these  points,  so  that  it  was  rare  before  the  war  to  find 
any  one  (not  a  special  student  of  those  subjects)  who  knew  how 
the  Constitution  was  formed  and  the  objects  of  all  its  provisions, 
the  true  character  of  the  States  and  their  relation  to  the  Federal 
Government,  the  various  crises  through  which  the  Union  had 
passed,  and  so  forth.  And  we  can  now  see  that  the  war  between 
the  States  was  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  popular  lack  of 
knowledge  on  these  points,  astounding  examples  of  which  may 
still  be  seen  even  in  the  cases  of  high  public  officers,  and  pre 
tentious  writers  and  speakers. 

Mr.  Stephens  rightly  conceived  that  in  a  country  where  every 
man  is  expected  to  exercise  the  primary  functions  of  government, 
and  any  man  may  be  called  on  to  administer  its  trusts,  a  knowl 
edge  of  these  facts  was  of  the  first  importance;  and  he  therefore 
gave,  in  his  History,  a  condensed,  but  clear  and  impartial  account 
of  the  formation  of  the  Government  and  the  principles  of  its 
organization,  of  the  great  questions  on  which  public  opinion 
was  divided,  the  parties  which  arose  upon  these  questions,  and 
the  contests  between  them.  The  work  covers  the  period  from 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  5Q7 

the  discovery  of  America  to  the  year  of  its  completion,  and  the 
author  bestowed  great  care  and  labor  upon  it;  though  suffering, 
in  addition  to  his  other  ailments,  with  severe  attacks  of  vertigo. 
As  a  recreation,  he  had  historical  readings  in  the  evening,  and 
we  find  in  the  letters  an  admiring  reference  to  Lord  Mahon's 
History  of  England. 

And  thus  cheerfully  looking  forward  to  a  life  to  be  passed  not 
only  in  seclusion  from  public  affairs,  but  in  the  condition  of  a 
cripple,  and  cheerfully  guiding  his  students,  writing  his  book, 
contributing  to  his  paper,  and  doing  whatever  work  his  hand 
found  to  do,  he  spent  the  rest  of  this  quiet  year. 


CHAPTER    XLL 

Situation  of  Affairs  in  the  South — The  "  New  Departure"— Mr.  Greeley — 
Pluck,  the  Dog — Life  at  Liberty  Hall — Death  of  Judge  Linton  Stephens 
— A  Crushing  Sorrow — Contest  for  Election  to  the  Senate. 

As  the  reader  cannot  here  have  the  guidance  of  a  work  as 
full  and  impartial  as  the  Constitutional  View  to  unfold  the  polit 
ical  complications  of  this  period,  we  must  enter  somewhat  fully 
into  details  to  explain  the  situation. 

President  Grant  had  entered  office  without  any  well-defined 
political  views,  and  rather  disposed  to  deal  justly  with  the  South, 
and  to  consolidate  peace  on  an  equitable  basis.  He  had  been 
supported  in  1868  by  a  large  class  of  the  more  conservative 
Republicans,  who  wished  for  a  restoration  of  tranquillity  and 
prosperity.  But  he  unfortunately  allowed  himself  to  be  guided 
by  the  extremists  of  his  party  (including  Horace  Greeley),  repre 
senting  the  moneyed  interests  of  protection,  the  national  bank 
system,  etc.,  and  the  allies  of  the  carpet-baggers,  who  persuaded 
him  that  his  own  re-election  and  the  continued  supremacy  of  the 
Republican  party  depended  upon  the  forcible  repression  of  polit 
ical  liberty  at  the  South,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  "carpet 
bag"  governments  by  the  military  power.  This  turned  the 
conservative  Republicans  from  him ;  but  they  were  not  able  to 
cope  with  the  adroit  and  unscrupulous  strategy  of  their  oppo 
nents,  who  skilfully  kept  alive  the  embers  of  hate  left  by  the 
war,  and,  among  other  things,  worked  the  North  into  great 
excitement  over  that  absurd  phantom,  the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan."* 


*  The  origin  of  this  was  as  follows.  Some  time  before  the  period  we 
are  writing  of,  apprehensions  were  felt  throughout  the  South  that  a  con 
certed  rising  of  the  negroes  to  massacre  the  disarmed  whites  was  in  prepa 
ration.  Emissaries  were  known  to  be  busy  among  them ;  nightly  meetings 
for  drill  were  being  held,  and  they  were  not  sparing  of  mysterious  hints 
and  threats.  Even  where  this  was  not  the  case,  they  were  thieving  and 
508 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  509 

In  May,  1871,  was  organized  what  was  called  the  "New 
Departure,"  which  Mr.  Stephens  regarded  as  an  abandonment 
of  all  the  ancient  landmarks  of  Democracy, — one  which,  if 
adopted  by  the  party  generally  in  the  United  States,  would  lead 
to  an  overwhelming  defeat  of  the  party  in  the  ensuing  Presi 
dential  campaign. 

Mr.  Horace  Greeley  was  a  supporter  of  the  new  movement, — 
through  hostility  to  Grant,  Mr.  Stephens  maintained,  and  because 
the  principles  of  the  movement  tended  more  directly  toward 
consolidation  than  any  ever  before  announced  in  this  country  by 
any  party.  Mr.  Greeley  was  a  man  of  much  intelligence,  of 
amiable  disposition,  but  most  inflexible  purpose.  Mr.  Stephens, 
from  their  first  acquaintance,  had  admired  his  many  excellent 
traits,  and  had  the  kindest  personal  feeling  toward  him.  When 
his  name  was  prominent  among  the  candidates  for  the  Baltimore 
Democratic  nomination  in  1872,  Mr.  Stephens,  in  advance  of 
•  that  nomination,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  J.  Glancy  Jones,  of 
Pennsylvania  (who  had  solicited  Mr.  Stephens's  influence  in 
behalf  of  Mr.  Greeley's  nomination,  and  expressed  the  opinion 
that  he  would  sweep  almost  the  entire  North,  and,  with  the  con 
currence  of  the  South,  would  defeat  Grant).  In  reply  to  this 
Mr.  Stephens  expressed  opinions  directly  in  opposition  to  these, 
and  stated  that  so  far  from  Mr.  Greeley's  sweeping  the  North, 
he  saw  no  possibility  of  his  carrying  a  single  Northern  State, 
and  but  few  Southern.  This  letter  was  written  several  days 

plundering  to  an  intolerable  extent  in  nocturnal  forays.  Some  young  men 
hit  upon  the  idea  of  checking  these  doings  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
superstitious  fears  of  the  race.  Partly  with  serious  purpose  and  partly  as 
a  mischievous  frolic,  they  patrolled  the  country  at  night  in  fantastic  and 
terror-striking  disguises,  and  caused  terrific  reports  to  be  spread  of  the 
awful  powers  and  direful  deeds  of  the  "Klan."  They  chose  as  their  desig 
nation  the  Greek  name  Kukldps,  or  Cyclops,  as  a  name  at  once  striking 
and  mysterious,  their  leader  being  called  the  "  Grand  Cyclops,"  which  negro 
pronunciation  corrupted  to  "Ku-Klux."  As  the  device  was  adopted  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  the  wildest  rumors  soon  spread  among  the 
negroes  of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  by  the  "  Klair ' ;  and  these  were  skilfully 
used  at  the  North  to  rouse  a  paroxysm  of  indignation  against  what  was  in 
reality  scarcely  more  than  a  grotesque  bugbear,  though,  no  doubt,  deeds  of 
violence  were  perpetrated  in  some  cases  by  real  or  pretended  members  of 
the  "Klan." 


510  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

before  the  nomination  at  Baltimore,  and  was  published  not  long 
after.  The  result  confirmed  the  prediction,  for  Mr.  Greeley  did 
not  get  a  single  Northern  State.  In  this  contest  for  nomination 
Mr.  Stephens  took  no  part.  For  this  course  he  was  sharply 
denounced  by  the  Greeley  supporters  and  "  New  Departure" 
Democrats  in  Georgia. 

Mr.  Greeley  was  nothing  of  a  statesman  ;  he  was,  on  many 
points,  fanatical ;  was  deeply  tinged  with  socialistic  doctrines, 
and  governed  rather  by  his  feelings  and  temperament  than  by 
his  calm  judgment.  It  was  thought  by  many  that  his  unques 
tionably  great  popularity  in  the  North  and  West  had  been 
chiefly  due  to  his  placing  himself  in  the  van  of  fanaticism,  and 
that  it  would  fall  away  from  him  so  soon  as  he  opposed  its 
further  advance.  Especially  did  it  seem  absurd  for  Conserva 
tive  Democrats  to  advocate  his  election,  since  their  true  and 
strong  position  consisted  in  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  of 
the  States  under  the  Constitution  and  a  firm  adherence  to 
the  latter  as  the  palladium  of  civic  liberty ;  and  Mr.  Greeley 
had  been  notorious  in  years  gone  by  for  the  scorn  which  he  had 
heaped  upon  that  instrument,  and  the  facility  with  which  he 
gave  it  whatever  construction  suited  his  views,  regardless  both 
of  its  plain  tenor  and  its  history.  It  was,  moreover,  absurd  for 
a  party  whose  strength  lay  in  its  unwavering  opposition  to 
the  abuses  of  a  protective  tariff  to  select  as  its  standard-bearer  a 
life-long  and  extreme  protectionist.  The  wiser  Democrats  and 
Liberals  felt  that  he  was  a  man,  however  excellent  his  inten 
tions,  upon  whom  little  reliance  could  be  placed  in  any  crisis 
/demanding  wisdom,  prudence,  tact,  and  solid  judgment;  and 
in  the  one  vital  question  upon  which  his  views  were  unmis 
takable  and  unalterable,  he  was  in  direct  conflict  with  them. 

Still,  deceived  by  his  apparent  popularity,  the  Cincinnati 
Convention  nominated  him  as  the  Liberal  Republican  candi 
date,  with  Ex-Governor  Brown,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  thus  renouncing  the  strongest  plank  in  their  platform, 
that  of  Free-trade;  and  the  Democratic  Convention  at  Balti 
more,  by  accepting  the  nomination,  completed  this  short-sighted 
and  disastrous  coalition. 

In  January  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  suffered  extremely  from 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  51 1 

rheumatism  and  neuralgia.  Still,  besides  his  editorial  work  on 
the  Sun,  he  was  able  to  do  a  little  every  day  on  his  School  His 
tory,  and  on  the  27th  of  February  he  triumphantly  announces 
to  R.  M.  J.  that  he  is  "  relieved  from  a  great  labor.  My  history 
is  off  to  the  press."  The  rest,  however,  that  he  was  promising 
himself  did  not  come  with  the  end  of  this  work  ;  and  he  writes  : 

"I  am  still  absorbed, — not  on  the  same  subjects,  but  in  the  fifty  other 
matters  that  are  on  my  table  to  be  attended  to.  It  is  impossible  under 
such  circumstances  to  write  an  old-fashioned  letter,  springing  from  a  full 
heart  in  its  spontaneous  pourings-forth  to  a  bosom-crony." 

Our  old  four-footed  friend,  Sir  Bingo  Binks,  notwithstanding 
his  merits,  had  never  been  able  to  fill  the  place  of  the  lamented 
and  incomparable  Rio  in  his  master's  affections.  Nor  was  this 
possible  for  Pluck,  a  brindled  cross  between  St.  Bernard  and 
bull-terrier,  that  Mr.  Stephens  had  raised,  though  he  was  quite 
a  favorite.  His  most  eminent  accomplishment,  beside  his  hered 
itary  qualities  as  a  biter  and  a  fighter,  was  the  trick  of  rearing 
up  against  his  master,  at  command,  and  giving  utterance  to  a 
singularly  loud  and  dismal  sound,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
"crying." 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens 
kept  up  an  active  warfare  in  the  Sun  against  the  Greeley 
coalition. 

In  the  summer  R.  M.  J.  spent  some  time  with  Mr.  Stephens, 
whom  he  found  deeply  interested  in  public  affairs,  but  more 
hopeless  of  the  future  of  the  country  than  he  had  ever  known  him 
before.  He  condemned  the  New  Departure  in  the  strongest  terms 
as  an  abject  abandonment  of  principle  by  the  Democratic  party, 
especially  that  of  the  South.  But  what  surprised  him  most 
was  the  facility  with  which  this  party  had  been  led  into  the 
belief  that  Mr.  Greeley  could  be  elected.  He  laughed  at  the 
scores  of  men  who  came  to  his  house  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  soliciting  him  to  join  the  movement  which  they  predicted 
would  sweep  the  country  at  the  November  elections ;  and  never 
for  a  moment  wavered  in  his  predictions  of  the  utter  defeat  of 
the  coalition. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Johnston  had  his  last  meeting  with  the 
two  brothers  together.  Linton  had  just  returned  from  Atlanta, 


512  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

where  lie  had  been  engaged  as  leading  counsel  by  especial  ap 
pointment  of  the  Governor,  under  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  in 
prosecuting  the  plunderers  of  the  State  treasury  under  Governor 
Bullock's  administration,  and  was  spending  a  day  or  two  with 
his  brother  at  Liberty  Hall,  the  last  days  that  he  ever  passed 
there.  The  two  brothers  were  in  full  accord  on  the  political 
issues  of  the  day,  and  heaped  arguments  and  friendly  raillery 
upon  their  guest,  who  unfortunately  had  sided  with  the  coalition, 
because,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  he  had  no  alternative.  Under 
Greeley,  he  argued,  we  should  have  at  least  a  civil  instead  of  a 
military  government,  towards  which,  under  Grant's  adminis 
tration,  the  country  seemed  to  be  rapidly  drifting.  But  the 
brothers  thought  it  best  to  take  no  part  in  the  contest  between 
Grant  and  Greeley  on  their  respective  platforms,  maintaining 
that  while  the  former  had  no  declared  political  principles  except 
to  carry  out  the  behests  of  Congress,  Greeley  did  have  very  fixed 
principles,  and  those  eminently  false  and  mischievous. 

It  was  remarkable  how  little  change,  to  the  eye  of  their 
guest,  the  war  and  its  consequences  had  made  in  the  life  at 
Liberty  Hall.  The  same  servants  were  there,  and  the  same 
order  of  domestic  economy  ;  Harry  was  still  at  the  head  of  out 
door  affairs ;  Eliza,  his  wife,  was  still  cook  and  laundress  ;  and 
their  children  did  the  housework.  When  we  drove  out  in  the 
afternoons,  Pluck,  who  had  then,  like  his  predecessor  Rio,  become 
blind,  and  old  Frank,  a  small  black  "fice,"  were  lifted  into  the 
carriage  beside  their  master,  from  whom  they  could  not  bear  to 
be  separated.  When  night  came,  and  Harry  had  put  his  master 
to  bed,  some  newspapers  were  spread  at  the  foot,  on  which  Pluck 
mounted  to  sleep  for  the  night.  A  small  riding-whip  was 
stuck  under  Mr.  Stephens's  pillow,  with  which  he  could  repress 
any  encroachment  of  his  companion.  Then  the  guest  would 
read  aloud  until  Mr.  Stephens  had  fallen  asleep;  after  which 
he  retired  to  his  own  apartment. 

On  July  1st  (Linton's  birthday)  Mr.  J.  left  with  Linton  for 
a  visit  to  him  at  Sparta.  On  the  5th  he  received  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Stephens,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  I  have  had  another  attack  since  you  were  here,  from  which  I  am  still 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IT.  STEPHENS.  513 

suffering,  but  am  able  to  sit  up.  I  am  a  little  more  depressed  and  low- 
spirited  than  I  have  been  for  some  time.  ^This  springs  from  the  clear  in 
dications  of  the  times,  that  the  Southern  people  will  most  likely,  in  the 
coming  Presidential  canvass,  cast  their  lot  with  Mr.  Greeley)  This  greatly 
increases  the  apprehension  that  I  have  felt  for  the  last  twelve  years,  that 
our  people  are  really  incapable  of  self-government :  that  they  do  not  pos 
sess  the  essential  requisites,  the  necessary  intelligence,  virtue,  and  patriot 
ism.  No  people  can  be  free  long,  no  self-governing  people,  I  mean,  who 
do  not  study  and  understand  the  principles  of  the  Government,  and  who 
do  not  have  the  virtue  and  patriotism  to  maintain  these  principles. 

"  The  reflection  that  our  people — the  Southern  people — are  getting  ready 
and  ripe  for 'a  master,  is  a  sad,  sad  one  to  me.  But  it  presses  heavily  upon 
me  just  now,  and  renders  me  not  only  depressed  but  gloomy  in  spirits 
sometimes." 

When  he  wrote  this  he  was,  though  he  knew  it  not,  about  to 
be  called  upon  to  endure  the  heaviest  sorrow  of  his  life.  On 
the  14th  day  of  this  month  (July)  Linton  Stephens  died,  after  a 
brief  illness.  This  blow  for  a  time  almost  crushed  his  brother, 
who  was  now  the  only  survivor  of  his  father's  family.  Those 
who  bore  him  the  sad  message,  and  who  saw  him  while  fresh 
from  the  blow,  speak  of  his  grief  as  most  heart-rending.  On 
the  16th  he  writes  to  R.  M.  J. : 

"  I  am  now  passing  through  one  of  the  bitterest  agonies  of  my  life. 
Before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  have  heard  of  the  death  of  my  dearest 
of  brothers.  He  died  at  his  home  on  the  evening  of  Sunday  last." 

After  a  short  account  of  his  illness,  the  letter  proceeds : 

"Oh  that  T  had  you  to  comfort  me! — some  one  to  whom  I  could  talk, 
and  in  this  way  find  relief  from  an  overpressed  heart,  which  converse  with 
friends  alone  can  afford.  The  light  of  my  life  is  extinguished.  How  long 
I  can  survive  it,  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  alone  knoAvs.  The  bitterest 
pang  I  have  is  that  all  the  world  to  me  is  now  desolateC-I-have  no  one  to 
whom  I  can  talk  and  unbosom  my  woesr^eretofore,  when  heavy  afflic 
tions  of  any  sort  came  upon  me,  for  thirty  years  or  more,  he  was  my  prop 
and  stay.  Towards  him  my  thoughts  constantly  turned  for  relief  and 
comfort.  Now  that  prop  and  stay  is  gone.  I. am  indeed  most  miserable. 
All  around  me  is  dark,  gloomy,  cheerless,  hopeless.  I  am  not  able  even 
to  go  and  take  a  last  look  at  that  noble  form  who  has  so  long  been  my 
life's  support.  Oh,  how  little  did  I  think,  when  he  bade  me  adieu  with 
you  two  weeks  ago,  last  Saturday,  that  it  would  be  the  last  time  I  should 
see  him  !  But  so  it  was.  CTo  the  decrees  of  the  Most  High  we  must  all 
submit  with  whatever  resignation  He  shall  afford  us  grace  through  faith 
in  His  mercy  to  command.  \ 

33 


514  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS. 

"  In  this  most  afflictive  bereavement  I  am  not  without  some  consolation 
— some  comfort.  This  springs  from  reflecting  upon  his  well-rounded  life. 
He  was  in  the  full  prime  of  manhood,  and  in  the  zenith  of  a  well-earned 
and  enduring  fame,  with  a  character  for  honor  and  integrity  unsullied, 
with  deeds  that  will  live  after  him,  leaving  a  deep  impress  upon  the  times, 
not  only  at  the  bar  and  in  the  forum  of  popular  discussion,  but  in  the 
halls  of  legislation  and  in  the  records  of  our  judiciary.  What  more  could 
I  desire?  All  must  die.  He  has  but  paid  the  debt  of  nature, — has  passed 
from  the  stage  of  earthly  existence  where  he  had  acted  an  honorable,  a 
useful,  and  a  noble  part.  He  did  not  remain  to  be  subject  to  the  infirmi 
ties,  either  of  body  or  mind,  which  seem  to  be  the  inevitable  attendants 
of  old  age.  What  he  has  done  is  a  rich  inheritance  for  His  posterity. 
Why,  then,  should  I  weep?  Why  should  my  heart  be  torn  with  such 
anguish  ? 

"  These  are  the  consoling  thoughts  which  come  to  my  relief  and  comfort. 

"  But,  oh!  the  bitter  consciousness  that  I  shall  never  see  him  more  ;  that 
I  now  have  no  one  to  whom  I  can  look  for  support  in  distresses  of  body 
and  mind,)— this  overwhelms  me.  May  you,  my  dear  friend,  while  you 
live,  btrSpared  the  deep  agony  I  now  feel !  .  .  . 

"  My  brother  was  perfectly  in  his  senses  to  the  last,  and  was  entirely 
conscious  of  his  condition  and  rapidly-approaching  end.  He  expressed  a 
willingness  to  die,  and  showed  no  fear  at  the  approach  of  dissolution. 
Did  not  suffer  any  very  severe  pain,  and  had  no  struggle.  He  was  calm 
and  resigned,  and  spoke  to  within  a  few  moments  of  his  last  breath.  Thus 
passed  away  my  dearest  brother." 

Those  who  knew  well  the  relations  of  these  two  brothers 
could  have  foreseen  that  the  death  of  Linton  would  fall  with 
extreme  and  peculiar  weight  upon  Alexander.  He  had  guided 
and  watched  over  his  younger  brother  with  more  than  paternal 
solicitude,  as  we  have  seen,  in  his  childhood,  youth,  and  early 
manhood,  until  he  saw  him  fully  his  peer  at  the  bar.  They 
had  never  at  any  time  been  partners  in  business,  but  they  had 
tacitly  agreed  never  to  appear  on  opposing  sides  in  lawsuits. 
Some  thought  that  in  political  matters  Linton  followed  the  lead 
of  his  elder  brother;  but  this  was  at  no  time  the  case;  No 
doubt  their  long  habits  of  association,  interchange  of  thought, 
and  co-operation,  produced  a  great  similarity  in  their  views; 
and  on  new  questions  arising  each  could  anticipate  the  judgment 
and  action  of  the  other;  but  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  the 
younger  were  as  independent  as  those  of  his  elder  brother. 
Both  were  men  of  uncommonly  deep  and  tender  feelings,  and 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  515 

their  mutual  affection  was  heightened  by  the  peculiar  circum 
stances  of  their  lives,  and  founded  on  a  deep  respect  for  each 
other's  character.  Yet  neither  was  at  all  given  to  outward  de 
monstrations  of  fraternal  affection.  They  usually  met  and  parted 
as  any  two  friends  would  have  done.  After  Linton's  marriage, 
the  increased  loneliness  of  Alexander's  existence  seemed  only  to 
deepen  his  love  for  the  brother  who  now  had  dearer  ties  than  those 
of  fraternal  affection.  (The  intimate  friend  of  both  avers  that 
never  has  he  known  a  love  so  absorbing,  so  constant,  so  single 
as  that  felt  by  Alexander  for  Linton.  xTIe  was  more  eager  for 
his  brother's  advancement  and  rejoiced  more  at  his  success  than 
at  his  own.  Linton  himself  was  not  ambitious:  indeed,  had  a 
repugnance  to  public  office,  though  deeply  interested  in  public 
affairs;  and  his  defeat  in  1855  was  scarcely  a  disappointment  to 
him,  while  Alexander  was  thinking  more  of  his  brother's  chances 
than  his  own,  and  would  most  gladly  have  borne  defeat  if  that 
could  have  insured  Linton's  election.  To  the  friend  referred  to, 
the  letters  of  this  period,  especially  those  in  which  he  analyzes 
the  sources  of  possible  consolation,  indicated  a  sorrow  very  near 
to  despair.  Despair  itself  would  have  followed,  had  he  not 
thrown  himself  again  into  active  political  life. 
On  July  19th  he  writes: 

"  Your  consoling  letter  was  received  this  morning.  .  .  .  The  accidents 
of  every  day  seem  only  to  add  deeper  pangs  to  my  grief.  The  more  I 
realize  my  situation,  the  deeper  I  am  impressed  with  the  sense  of  rny  utter 
isolation  from  anything  that  can  bind  me  to  this  world.  I  can  write 
nothing — I  can  do  nothing.  My  thoughts  are  upon  him  all  the  time.  .  .  . 

To-day  my  sorrows  were  increased  by  a  message  from  old  Uncle  Ben , 

the  old  family  servant  down  at  the  homestead,  now  in  his  seventy-second 
year,  who  has  been  an  invalid  nearly  all  his  life,  that  he  is  in  low  con 
dition.  I  fear  from  what  George  said  that  he  too  may  soon  pass  away. 
Linton's  death  greatly  affected  all  down  there,  and  old  Uncle  Ben  in  par 
ticular,  who  was  his  nurse  in  childhood,  as  his  rheumatism  kept  Ben  about 
the  house  for  several  years.  When  Linton  went  to  his  Uncle  Lindsay's, 
in  Upson  County,  in  1828  or  1829,  Ben  went  with  him,  and  was  with  him 
until  I  became  his  guardian,  in  1837.  He  was  much  attached  to  him,  and 
the  old  man  was  greatly  afflicted  by  his  death.  I  sent  him  a  doctor,  and 
will  go  to  see  him  just  as  soon  as  I  can.  I  feel  as  if  it  would  be  a  relief 
to  me  to  visit  the  old  man  on  his  sick-bed,  and  mingle  my  tears  with  his 
for  one  whom  he  loved  so  much  as  well  as  I.  I  am  grieved  that  he  is 
suffering  so  much.  May  God  have  mercy  on  us  all !" 


516  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

Many  such  letters  followed  during  the  summer.  Mr.  Stephens 
improved  sufficiently  in  health  to  write  for  his  paper  and  vigor 
ously  oppose  Mr.  Greeley 's  election.  On  September  9th  he 
writes : 

"  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with  work.  Have  had  no  time  to  do  any 
thing  but  work  on  business  connected  with  the  Sun.  .  .  .  Politics  in 
Georgia  are  now  greatly  mixed  and  confused.  What  turn  events  will 
take  depends  upon  what  is  done  in  Louisville  next  week.  If  a  sound 
Democratic  platform  is  adopted,  and  a  ticket  of  sound  mejn  put  upon  it 
who  will  accept,  we  shall  have  a  lively  time  of  it." 

The  reference  here  is  to  the  "straight-out"  Democratic  Con 
vention,  or  those  opposed  to  the  Greeley  coalition,  which  met  in 
Louisville  September  4th  and  5th,  1872,  and  dissolved  with 
out  making  a  nomination,  Mr.  Charles  O'Conor,  their  choice, 
having  refused  to  accept. 

There  are  no  letters  of  interest  now  before  November  -Oth, 
when  he  writes  on  the  eve  of  starting  for  Atlanta,  which  he  had 
not  visited  for  nearly  four  years,  so  long  had  lie  been  at  home. 

"  How  shall  I  stand  this  trip?  Oh,  if  I  had  my  dear  brother  to  go  with 
me  !  My  poor  dog,  what  will  become  of  him  ?  How  he  will  grieve  and 
aj^iejijjiir-ine !  For  nearly  four  years  he  has  seldom,  and  for  a  few  mo 
ments  only  at  a  time,  been  out  of  my  sight,  Day  and  night  he  has  been 
with  me  and  depended  on  me,  blind  and  unable  to  take  care  of  himself. 
-  "  I  go  to  Atlanta  on  business}  and  hope  to  be  able  to  return  on  Saturday, 
but  no  one  can  imagine  what  H  costs  me  in  feeling  to  make  this  adventure, 
to  leave  my  home  once  more.  .;  .  . 

.  .  .  "You  seem  to  be  despondent  at  Grant's  election.  In  my  opinion 
the  country  is  better  off  with  Grant  than  with  Greeley.  I  opposed  Grant 
for  the  principles  of  his  party,  not  for  any  principles  of  his  own.  Grant 
seems  to  have  no  principles  but  to  execute  the  mandates  of  Congress ; 
Greele^Jia*  pnnt^i^lc&^nd  the  worst  now  avowed  by  any  public  man  in 
this  country.'' 

The  course  that  Mr.  Stephens  had  followed  in  the  Presidential 
campaign  brought  upon  him  the  hostility  of  many  of  the  lead 
ing  Democrats,  both  North  and  South.  The  utter  defeat  of  the 
coalition  seemed  to  have  exasperated  these  persons,  especially 
against  one  who  had  not  only  refused  to  join  the  movement,  but 
had  so  constantly  and  truly  predicted  its  disastrous  end.  On 
December  14th  he  writes : 


LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

"Jo*  as  Urn  liai  111  i  ii  nii»lffj,lil"l  Xortfc  mmd 

ill  '  "ii     *  n^  •!  ih ti  •!  •••••••  ••  I  mill      Did 


: 


: 


. 


old  putr  jBsociatEs.  -  Either  the  *  New  Dtputore,' w  be 
"or  I,  ahall  die,  polhictlh-,  in  Geoqrn.*"  He  spoke  an 
noanced  his  cuididmire.  The  «o^fc«^  in  the  Legidatiir 

-         :;  - 


tioo  with  his  biuthei,  which  miwmed  strict  adherenee  ID  the 

•  r  "  ' 


518  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

that  the  State  was  rescued  from  Radical  and  carpet-bag  rule  in 
the  ensuing  elections  of  that  year. 

Mr.  Hill  received  but  few  votes.  Mr.  Stephens  was  for 
awhile  a  little  ahead ;  but  changes  were  made  which  resulted  in 
General  Gordon's  election  by  a  small  majority.  It  was  said 
that  the  general,  owing  to  his  distinguished  military  services 
and  activity  in  the  Presidential  canvass,  had  a  majority,  or  very 
nearly  a  majority,  of  the  Legislature  pledged  to  his  support 
before  Mr.  Stephens  had  announced  his  name.  Mr.  Stephens 
said  that  he  had  gained  his  main  object,  which  was  to  kill  the 
"  New  Departure"  in  Georgia ;  and  that  he  was  content  with 
the  result. 


CHAPTER   XLII. 

Candidate  for  Congress — Civil  Eights  Bill — Speech  of  January  5th — Serious 
Illness — The  Salary  Act — Re-elected — Controversy  with  the  Hon.  B.  H. 
Hill — Withdraws  from  the  Atlanta  Sun,  with  heavy  loss — Action  on  the 
Louisiana  Report — Fourth  of  July  at  Atlanta— Liberty  Hall  again — 
Sunday-School  Celebration  at  Crawfordville — Re-election — Appearance 
in  the  House — Attack  of  Pneumonia — Report  of  his  Death — Views  on  the 
Electoral  Commission — Mr.  Stephens  in  Congress — Speech  at  the  uncov 
ering  of  Carpenter's  Picture — Letters — Social  Habits. 

JUST  before  the  Senatorial  election,  General  Ambrose  R. 
Wright,  who  had  been  returned  as  a  member  from  the  Eighth 
District  to  the  next  Congress,  died ;  and  a  general  desire  was 
shown  throughout  the  State,  after  his  defeat  for  the  Senate, 
that  Mr.  Stephens  should  be  elected  to  the  vacant  seat.  This 
was  the  old  Eighth  District  before  the  war,  which  he  had 
represented  so  long.  This  feeling  both  surprised  and  touched 
Mr.  Stephens,  who  had  given  up  all  thought  of  being  again  a 
candidate  for  public  office.  Indeed,  if  Linton  had  been  living, 
he  would  not  have  entertained  the  idea ;  but  his  brother's  death 
had  so  utterly  shattered  his  dreams  of  a  peaceful  domestic  life, 
had  left  him  so  desolate,  and  stricken  out  of  his  existence  its 
chief  and  almost  sole  happiness,  that  he  found  it  a  relief  to  set 
some  immediate  purpose  before  him  on  which  he  could  concen 
trate  his  thoughts,  and  into  which  he  could  throw  what  energies 
he  possessed.  He  at  once  entered  into  the  campaign,  and  was 
returned  without  opposition  from  any  quarter, — Republicans 
and  Democrats  alike  voting  for  him. 

It  was,  perhaps,  the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened  to 
him.  From  this  time  forward  a  more  cheerful  tone  became 
apparent  in  his  letters  and  conversation  ;  and  the  belief  that  it 
was  still  in  his  power  to  do  some  good,  and  that  life  was  not 
yet  over  for  him,  gradually  returned.!  This  characteristic  showed 
itself  so  markedly,  that  some  who  did  not  know  him  intimately 

519 


520  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

thought  that  he  was  growing  arrogant,  and  cherishing  an  over 
weening  estimate  of  his  own  powers ;  but  it  was  really  the  re-_ 
action  from  an  almost  unrelieved  despair,  and  the  consciousness, 
which  never  forsook  Imnytirat "his "life  was  henceforth  absolutely 
alone. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  April  7th  will  show 
how  busy  a  man  he  was  this  spring : 

"You  ask  me  what  I  am  so  busy  about.  Why,  my  dear  sir,  I  am  busy 
with  company;  busy  with  answering  letters, — fifteen  or  twenty  sometimes 
a  day : — busy  with  giving  legal  advice — gratuitously  in  most  cases — to 
neighbors,  widows,  and  the  poor :  even  the  blacks  come  to  me  constantly 
for  advice ;  busy  with  my  law-class.  I  have  another  class  of  five  law 
students  now  who  make  a  constant  draft  on  my  attention.  They  are  not 
in  a  class,  but  all  in  separate  books.  Then  I  write  a  great  deal  more  for 
the  Sun  than  you  seem  to  be  aware  of, — two  or  three  and  sometimes  four 
articles  in  the  week.  This  is  not  all.  Every  once  in  a  while  comes  a 
long  manuscript  for  me  to  read  over  and  advise  about,  and  tell  how  it  is 
to  be  published." 

In  such  occupations  he  spent  most  of  the  spring  and  summer. 
In  September  he  was  invited  to  deliver  an  address  in  New  York 
in  behalf  of  a  plan  for  a  great  general  celebration  of  the  hun 
dredth  year  of  American  independence,  and  accepted  on  condition 
that  his  health  would  permit.  He  greatly  favored  the  design, 
believing  that  such  a  celebration,  by  reviving  memories  of  the 
past,  and  bringing  together  in  a  common  spirit  the  people  of  all 
sections,  would  greatly  tend  to  promote  harmony  and  good 
feeling,  and  help  to  efface  the  lingering  animosities.  How  far 
this  might  have  been  the  case  had  the  year  1876  not  also  been 
that  of  a  Presidential  election,  we  cannot  say ;  as  it  was,  instead 
of  a  return  of  peace  and  good-will,  the  exertions  of  one  party  at 
least  were  all  to  revive  old  discords  and  rekindle  the  embers  of 
sectional  hatred;  and  probably  at  no  time  since  1865  has  so 
much  bitterness  been  aroused. 

Despite  his  good  wishes,  however,  Mr.  Stephens  was  so  unwell 
this  fall,  chiefly  with  rheumatism  and  dysentery,  that  all  thoughts 
of  the  address  and  of  travel  had  to  be  abandoned.  He  grew 
better  at  the  approach  of  winter,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  ses 
sion  of  Congress  was  able  to  go  to  Washington. 

In  this  year  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  was  conferred  on 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  521 

him  by  Bowdoin  College.  He  also  was  selected  as  one  of  the 
associate  editors  of  Johnson's  Encydop&dia,  taking  the  depart 
ments  of  American  history  and  Southern  statistics. 

Early  in  the  session  the  Radical  party  in  Congress  introduced 
what  was  called  the  u  Civil  Rights  Bill,"  by  which  they  en 
deavored  to  compel  social  as  well  as  political  equality  between 
blacks  and  whites.  The  bill  ran  as  follows  : 

"  A  BILL  to  protect  all  citizens  in  their  civil  and  legal  rights. 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  .That  whoever,  being  a  corpora 
tion  or  natural  person,  and  owner,  or  in  charge  of  any  public  inn  ;  or  of 
any  place  of  public  amusement  or  entertainment  for  which  a  license  from 
any  legal  authority  is  required  ;  or  of  any  line  of  stage-coaches,  railroad,  or 
other  means  of  public  carriage  of  passengers  or  freight ;  or  of  any  cemetery, 
or  other  benevolent  institutions,  or  any  public  school  supported,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  at  public  expense  or  by  endowment  for  public  use,  shall  make 
any  distinction  as  to  admission  or  accommodation  therein,  of  any  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  because  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  ser 
vitude,  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  not  less  than  one  hundred 
nor  more  than  five  thousand  dollars  for  each  offence  j  and  the  person  or 
corporation  so  offending  shall  be  liable  to  the  citizens  thereby  injured,  in 
damages  to  be  recovered  in  an  action  of  debt. 

"  SEC.  2.  That  the  offences  under  this  act,  and  actions  to  recover  damages, 
may  be  prosecuted  before  any  Territorial,  district,  or  circuit  court  of  the 
United  States  having  jurisdiction  of  crimes  at  the  place  where  the  offence 
was  charged  to  have  been  committed,  as  well  as  in  the  district  where  the 
parties  may  reside,  as  now  provided  by  law." 

This  bill  Mr.  Stephens  strongly  opposed  in  a  speech  deliv 
ered  January  5th,  1874.  He  first  explained  that  his  opposition 
did  not  arise  from  an  indisposition  to  concede  full  justice  to 
every  human  being  within  the  Federal  jurisdiction,  nor  from 
any  prejudice  founded  on  race  or  previous  servitude.  While 
he  had  never  held  nor  believed  the  manifestly  false  assertion 
that  all  men  are  equal,  he  held  "that  all  men  have  an  equal 
right  to  justice,  and  stand,  so  far  as  governmental  powers  are 
concerned  or  exercised  over  them,  perfectly  equal  before  the 
law."  That  the  blacks  should  have  full  security  in  their  per 
sons  and  property,  and  that  they  should  enjoy,  as  amply  as  the 
whites,  the  protection  and  redress  afforded  by  the  law,  was  a 
doctrine  which  he  had  publicly  advocated  shortly  after  the  close 


522  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

of  the  war,  and  never  ceased  to  hold ;  and  that  doctrine,  when 
presented  by  him  in  an  address,  had  been  unanimously  approved 
by  the  Georgia  Legislature,  showing  the  feelings  and  dispositions 
of  the  leading  men  of  that  State. 

Mr.  Stephens  then  proceeded  to  state  why  he  opposed  the 
bill.  First,  even  if  the  rights  proposed  to  be  secured  by  it  were 
just,  there  was  no  constitutional  power  in  Congress  to  secure 
them  by  the  proposed  enactment.  The  advocates  of  the  bill 
claimed  such  power  under  the  first  and  fifth  sections  of  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  and  under  the  Fifteenth.  These  run  as 
follows : 

"ARTICLE  XIV. 

"  SEC.  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law 
which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  ;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction 
the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

"  SEC.  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate 
legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

"ARTICLE  XV. 

"  SEC.  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

"  SEC.  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation." 

These  amendments,  then,  declare  that  the  native  negroes  are 
citizens,  and  prohibit  the  States  from  denying  or  abridging  their 
civic  rights  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  servitude. 

Now,  argues  Mr.  Stephens,  this  places  the  colored  race  under 
the  same  protection  as  was  enjoyed  by  citizens  under  the  Con 
stitution  before  amendment,  and  provides  for  them  the  same 
remedy,  and  no  other. 

"  The  exercise  of  no  new  power  was  conferred  by  either  of  these  new 
Amendments.  The  denial  of  the  exercise  of  any  number  of  powers  by 
the  United  States,  severally,  does  not,  most  certainly,  confer  its  exercise 
upon  the  Congress  of  the  States.  Neither  of  these  Amendments  confers, 
bestows,  or  even  declares  any  rights  at  all  to  citizens  of  the  United  States, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  523 

or  to  any  class  whatever.  Upon  the  colored  race  they  neither  confer,  be 
stow,  or  declare  civil  rights  of  any  character, — not  even  the  right  of  fran 
chise.  They  only  forbid  the  States  from  discriminating  in  their  laws 
against  the  colored  race  in  the  bestowinent  of  such  rights  as  they  may 
severally  deem  best  to  bestow  upon  their  own  citizens.  Whatever  rights 
they  grant  to  other  citizens  shall  not  be  denied  to  the  colored  race  as  a 
class.  This  is  the  whole  of  the  matter.  The  question  then  is,  how  can 
Congress  enforce  a  prohibition  of  the  exercise  of  these  powers  by  a  State? 
Most  assuredly  in  the  same  way  they  enforced  or  provided  for  violations 
of  like  prohibitions  anterior  to  these  Amendments.  The  proper  remedies 
before  were  and  now  are  nothing  but  the  judgments  of  courts,  to  be  ren 
dered  in  such  way  as  Congress  might  provide,  declaring  any  State  act  in 
violation  of  the  prohibitions  to  be  null  and  of  no  effect,  because  of  their 
being  in  violation  of  this  covenant  between  the  States  as  set  forth  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  No  new  power  over  this  matter  of  a 
different  nature  or  character  from  that  previously  delegated  over  like  sub 
jects  was  intended  to  be  conferred  by  the  concluding  sections  of  either 
the  Fourteenth  or  Fifteenth  Article  of  Amendment.  No  such  thing  as  the 
tremendous  power  of  exercising  general  municipal,  as  well  as  criminal 
legislation  over  the  people  of  the  several  States  could  have  been  dreamed 
of  by  the  proposers  of  these  Amendments.  Such  a  construction  woulu 
entirely  upset  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Government,  the  maintenance  of 
which  in  its  integrity  was  the  avowed  object  of  the  war." 

He  then  quoted  from  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  in  what  were  known  as  the  u  Slaughter-house 
cases/7  in  which  that  tribunal  affirmed,  with  emphasis,  that  the. 
Fourteenth  Amendment  did  not  transfer  the  security  and  protec-^ 
tion  of  civil  rights  from  the  States  to  the  Federal  Government, 
nor  bring  the  domain  of  those  rights  within  the  jurisdiction   / 
of  Congress ;  but  that  all  the  essential  features  of  the  original  / 
Federal  system  remained  unchanged. 

But  he  not  only  objected  to  the  bill  as  unconstitutional,  but 
also  as  inexpedient.  JThere  was  no  desire  among  the  negroes  (in 
Georgia  at  least)  to  mix  with  the  whites  in  churches,  in  schools, 
or  socially ;  and  this  voluntary  separation,  on  a  basis  of  equal 
justice,  tended,  far  more  than  any  unnatural  mixing,  to  promote 
good  feeling  and  harmony  between  the  races. 

There  was,  however,  a  much  more  serious  danger  in  the 
introduction  of  this  bill  than  the  disturbance  of  harmonious 
relations  between  the  races. 

"  Interference  by  the  Federal  Government,  even  if  the  power  were  clear 


524  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

and  indisputable,  would  be  against  the  very  genius  and  entire  spirit  of  our 
whole  system.  If  there  is  one  truth  which  stands  out  prominently  above 
all  others  in  the  history  of  these  States,  it  is  that  the  germinal  and  .seminal 
principle  of  American  constitutional  liberty  is  the  absolute,  unrestricted 
right  of  State  self-government  in  all  purely  internal  municipal  affairs^ 
The  first  Union  of  the  colonies,  from  which  sprung  the  Union  of  the  States, 
was  by  joint  action  to  secure  this  right  of  local  self-government  for  each. 
It  was  when  the  chartered  rights  of  Massachusetts  were  violated  by  a 
British  Parliament,  the  cry  first  went  up  from  Virginia,  '  The  cause  of  Bos 
ton  is  the  cause  of  us  all !'  This  led  to  the  declaration  and  establishment 
of  the  independence,  not  of  the  whole  people  of  the  united  colonies  as 
one  mass,  but  of  the  independence  of  each  of  the  original  thirteen  colo 
nies,  then  declared  by  themselves  to  be,  and  afterwards  acknowledged  by 
all  foreign  powrers  to  be,  thirteen  separate  and  distinct  States. 

"  It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  even  to  touch  upon  any  of  the  issues 
involved  in  the  late  war,  or  the  chief  proximate  cause  which  led  to  it,  or 
upon  whom  devolves  the  responsibility  of  its  direful  consequences.  But, 
taking  it  for  granted  that  the  chief  proximate  cause  was  the  status  of  the 
African  race  in  the  Southern  States,  as  set  forth  in  the  decision  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  to  which  I  have  first  referred,  suffice  it  to  say  on  this  occasion 
tfiat  that  cause  is  now  forever  removed.  This  thorn  in  the  flesh,  so  long 
the  cause  of  irritation  between  the  States,  is  now  out  for  all  time  to  come. 
And  since  the  passions  and  prejudices  which  attended  the  conflict  are  fast 
subsiding  and  passing  away,  the  period  has  now  come  for  the  descendants 
of  a  common  ancestry,  in  all  the  States  and  sections  of  the  country,  to  re 
turn  to  the  original  principles  of  their  fathers,  with  the  hopeful  prospect 
of  a  higher  and  brighter  career  in  the  future  than  any  heretofore  achieved 
in  the  past.  On  such  return  depends,  in  my  judgment,  not  only  the  lib 
erties  of  the  white  and  colored  races  of  this  continent,  but  the  best  hopes 
of  mankind.  And  if  any  breach  has  been  made  in  any  of  the  walls  of  the 
Constitution,  in  the  terrible  shock  it  received  in  the  late  most  lamentable 
conflict  of  arms,  let  it  be  repaired  by  appeals  to  the  forums  of  reason  and 
justice,  wherein,  after  all,  rest  the  surest  hopes  of  all  true  progress  in 
human  civilization.  If,  'in  moments  of  error  or  alarm,'  we  have  'wan 
dered'  in  any  degree  from  the  true  principles  on  which  all  our  institutions 
wTere  founded,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  '  let  us  hasten  to  retrace 
our  steps  and  to  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to  peace,  liberty,  and 
safety !' 

"  This  I  say  in  all  earnestness  to  the  members  of  this  House  from  all 
sections  of  the  Union, — South,  East,  West,  and  North ;  and  especially  to 
those  who  bear  the  party-name  of  Republican.  If  you,  Mr.  Speaker,  and 
your  political  associates,  be  really  and  truly  of  the  old  Republican  school, 
then  be  first  and  foremost  to  rally  in  the  support  of  the  principles  of  the 
great  Chief  who  organized  that  party  to  rescue  the  Federal  Government 
from  centralisation  in  one  of  the  most  dangerous  periods  of  its  history ; 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS.  525 

and  under  the  auspices  of  whose  doctrines,  when  the  rescue  was  accom 
plished,  the  country  was  so  happy,  prosperous,  and  glorious  for  sixty 
years  of  its  existence.  If  you  do  not,  be  assured  your  opponents  will 
rally  again  under  the  banner  of  their  ancient  creed,  and  seize  it  from  the 
hands  of  those  who  profess  it  by  name,  but  reject  it  by  their  acts, — '  keep 
ing  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear  while  breaking  it  to  the  hope.' 

"  Excuse  me,  sir :  please  to  pardon  something  to  an  ardent  nature.  The 
dawn  of  a  new  epoch  in  politics  is  upon  us.  There  will  soon  be  a  break 
ing  up  of  the  elements  of  present  party  organizations.  The  great  and 
vital  issue  between  Constitutionalism  and  Centralism  must  soon  be  di 
rectly  met  by  the  people  of  the  States.  ySeven- tenths  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  in  my  judgment,  are  to-day  as  true  to  the  principles 
of  liberty,  on  which  the  Federal  Constitution  was  founded,  as  were  their 
ancestors  who,  in  1787,  perfected  its  matchless  and  majestic  structure, 
/'they  are  as  much  opposed  to  Centralisation  and  Empire,  and  the  neces- 
\»ary  consequence, — ultimate  Absolutism  and  Despotism, — as  the  men  of 
1776  wereL^  All  that  this  immense  majority  now  want  for  concert  and 
co-operation  are  young  and  vigorous  leaders,  thoroughly  in  earnest,  as 
well  as  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  importance  and  sacredness  of  the 
Cause.  Nothing  will  hasten  action  in  this  direction  more  than  the  passage 
by  Congress  of  this  bill,  or  any  like  it,  because  its  unnecessary  and  irri 
tating  effects  will  strike  chords  which  will  awaken  opposition  in  every 
State  of  the  Union,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Lakes 
to  the  Gulf." 

He  then  adverts  to  some  allusions  by  a  speaker  on  the  other 
side  to  the  Roman  Republic,  points  out  the  vital  distinction 
between  the  Federal  organization  of  the  States  and  that  con 
solidated  empire : 

"  In  the  workings  of  our  complex  system  under  our  Federal  Republic, 
each  State  is  a  distinct  political  Organism,  retaining  in  itself  all  the  vital 
powers  of  individual  State  government  and  development;  while  to  all  the 
States,  in  joint  Congress  assembled,  are  delegated  the  exercise  of  such 
powers,  and  such  only,  as  relate  to  extra-State  and  Foreign  affairs.  The 
States  are  each  perfect  political  Organisms,  with  all  the  functions  of  per 
fect  government  in  themselves,  respectively,  on  all  matters  over  which 
they  have  not  assigned  jurisdiction  to  the  Federal  Head,  or  on  which  they 
have  not  restrained  themselves  by  joint  covenant  in  mutual  prohibitions 
upon  themselves.  Under  this  system,  adhered  to,  no  danger  need  be  ap 
prehended  from  any  extent  to  which  the  limits  of  our  boundary  may  go, 
or  to  any  extent  to  which  the  number  of  States  may  swell.  For  the  main 
tenance  of  this  model  and  most  wonderful  system  of  government,  in  its 
original  purity  and  integrity,  every  well-wisher  of  his  country  should  put 
forth  his  utmost  effort.  No  better  time  for  an  effort  on  this  line  than  now, 
right  here  in  this  House. 


526  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS. 

"Let  us  not  do,  by  the  passage  of  this  bill,  what  our  highest  judicial 
tribunal  has  said  we  have  no  rightful  power  to  do.  If  you  who  call  your 
selves  Republicans  shall,  in  obedience  to  what  you  consider  a  party  behest, 
pass  it  in  the  vain  expectation  that  the  Republican  principles  of  the  old  and 
true  Jeffersonian  school  are  dead,  be  assured  you  are  indulging  a  fatal  de 
lusion.  The  old  Jefl'ersonian,  Democratic,  Republican  principles  are  not 
dead,  and  will  never  die  so  long  as  a  true  devotee  of  liberty  lives.  They 
may  be  buried  for  a  period,  as  Magna  Charta  was  trodden  under-foot  in 
England  for  more  than  half  a  century  ;  but  these  principles  will  come  up 
with  renewed  energy,  as  did  those  of  Magna  Charta,  and  that,  too,  at  no 
distant  day.  Old  Jeffersonian,  Democratic,  Republican  principles  dead, 
indeed !  When  the  tides  of  Ocean  cease  to  ebb  and  flow,  when  the  winds 
of  Heaven  are  hushed  into  perpetual  silence,  when  the  clouds  no  longer 
thunder,  when  Earth's  electric  bolts  are  no  longer  felt  or  heard,  when  her 
internal  fires  go  out,  then,  and  not  before,  will  these  principles  cease  to 
live, — then,  and  not  before,  will  these  principles  cease  to  animate  and 
move  the  liberty-loving  masses  of  this  country.  Dead,  indeed  !  What 
mean  these  utterances  just  heard  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Old 
Dominion  on  his  entering  into  office,  to  which  he  has  recently  been  chosen 
by  a  majority  of  over  twenty-seven  thousand,  in  a  State  which  General 
Grant  carried  last  year  by  a  majority  I  need  not  name?  A  notable  point 
in  these  utterances  is  what  he  said  in  them  of  President  Grant.  Hear 
them,  and  judge  whether  they  come  from  one  dead  or  alive.  Says  Gov 
ernor  Keinper  in  his  first  message : 

"'Adhering  to  those  principles,  Virginia  seeks  these  ends:  to  secure  and  main 
tain  her  full  constitutional  rights  and  relations,  and  to  perform  all  her-constitutional 
duties,  as  one  of  the  co-equal  members  of  the  Union ;  to  exercise  all  rightful  powers 
of  self-government,  and  to  determine,  adjust,  and  regulate  the  internal,  domestic, 
and  municipal  interests  of  her  people,  their  relations  and  rights,  including  such  as 
are  known  as  civil  rights,  in  strict  conformity  to  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the 
late  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  expounding  recent  amend 
ments  thereto,  and  the  respective  powers  of  the  Federal  and  State  Governments 
thereunder  j  to  obtain  an  equitable  settlement  of  her  just  claims  against  the  com 
mon  Government;  to  promote  universal  reconciliation  upon  the  basis  of  equal  jus 
tice  to  all  the  States  and  people;  to  cultivate  harmonious  relations  with  the  common 
Government;  and  to  yield  a  liberal  support  to  every  department  thereof  co-operat 
ing  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  ends  thus  sought.  Virginia,  recognizing  no  such 
obligations  as  bind  her  to  any  national  party  organization,  maintaining  her  fidelity 
to  all  who  are  and  who  shall  become  allies  in  the  defence  of  measures  calculated  to 
secure  the  ends  named,  is  ready  to  co-operate  cordially  with  men  of  whatever  party 
in  upholding  those  measures,  by  whomsoever  proposed, — supporting  those  who  sup 
port  them,  and  opposing  all  opposition  to  them.  One  of  the  articles  announcing 
the  principles  and  purposes  recently  ratified  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  our 
people  declares  that,  disclaiming  all  purpose  of  captious  hostility  to  the  present 
Executive  Head  of  the  Federal  Government,  "we  will  judge  him  impartially  by  his 
official  action,  and  will  co-operate  in  every  measure  of  his  Administration  which 
may  be  beneficent  in  design  and  calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people  and 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS.  527 

cultivate  sentiments  of  good  will  between  the  different  sections  of  the  Union."  This 
article  was  no  political  expedient  of  the  hour.  It  embodies  the  sentiments  of  hon 
orable  men,  and  binds  by  the  obligations  of  good  faith  and  justice.  It  pledges 
such  liberal  support  as  may  be  consistent  with  our  principles  and  justified  by  the 
developments  of  the  future.' 

"  The  principles  here  announced  are  in  strict  accordance  with  the  old 
Jeffersonian,  Democratic,  Republican  creed,  f  As  thus  uttered  they  clearly  ^ 
indicate  more  than  the  dawn  of  that  new  epoch,  and  future  new  alignment 
of  the  elements  of  present  party  organizations  in  this  country,  to  which  i 
have  referred.  They  are  the  key-note  of  that  movement  stirred  by  these 
old  Jeffersonian  principles,  which,  dead  as  some  may  suppose  them  to  be, 
will,  at  no  distant  day,  be  the  basis  of  as  signal  a  triumph  by  that  party 
which  plants  itself  squarely  upon  them,  whether  styled  Republican,  Dem 
ocratic,  or  by  any  other  name,  as  was  that  achieved  in  1800,  under  the 
guide  of  Jefferson  himself.  These  are,  indeed,  the  ever-living  principles 
to  which  the  country  must  return,  and  which  alone  lead  '  to  Peace,  Lib 
erty,  and  Safety!'" 

Not  long  after  the  delivery  of  this  speech  Mr.  Stephens  was 
again  prostrated  by  sickness,  and  all  who  knew  him  thought,  as 
he  himself  believed,  that  his  end  was  rapidly  approaching,  but 
neither  this  prospect  nor  his  acute  sufferings  disturbed  the  equa 
nimity  of  his  spirit.  Contrary  to  the  injunctions  of  his  physi 
cian,  he  insisted  upon  seeing  the  visitors  who,  drawn  some  by 
friendship  aud  sympathy  and  some  by  curiosity,  came  every  day 
in  crowds ;  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  mental  stimulus  of  conver 
sation  and  discussion  helped  to  keep  him  alive.  Later  in  the 
spring  he  left  Washington  and  returned  home. 

Some  of  Mr.  Stephens's  acts  in  this  Congress  were  made  the 
subject  of  rather  severe  censure.  He  had  always  had,  and  ex 
pressed  more  charitable  views  of  General  Grant  and  his  Admin 
istration  than  were  shared  by  his  party.  One  thing  in  particular 
was  fastened  on  for  special  animadversion.  In  the  previous 
session  Congress  had  passed  an  act  increasing  the  salaries  of  the 
members,  and  doubling  that  of  the  President.  Of  the  right  of 
Congress  to  fix  the  compensation  of  its  members  there  can  be 
no  question,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  salary  was  insufficient 
to  keep  up  the  style  of  living  which  had  grown  into  fashion  at 
Washington  with  the  depreciation  of  the  currency.  A  great 
part  of  the  enormous  corruption  among  public  officers  at  this 
time  unquestionably  had  its  origin  in  this  fact.  They  were 


523  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IT.  STEPHENS. 

expected  to  live  in  a  certain  style,  to  give  entertainments,  and 
so  forth,  and  if  their  legitimate  sources  of  income  were  insuf 
ficient,  there  was  always  the  "  lobby "  at  hand,  ready  and  eager 
to  pay  lavishly  for  their  vote  and  influence.  No  wonder  that 
integrities,  perhaps  never  very  robust,  succumbed  to  the  pre 
vailing  influences.  If  it  could  have  insured  the  honesty  of  the 
public  service,  it  would  have  been  an  excellent  thing  to  double 
or  even  triple  their  salaries ;  but  of  such  happy  result  the  public 
saw  no  guaranty.  Still,  the  feeling  would  not  have  been  so 
strong  had  not  the  majority  of  this  Congress  made  itself  in 
many  ways  specially  odious;  and  this  act  seemed  to  fill  up  the 
measure.  Some  of  the  members  refused  from  the  first  to  accept 
the  increased  pay ;  others,  when  they  found  how  strongly  the 
public  felt  in  the  matter,  returned  it  to  the  treasury.  At  the 
session  in  which  lie  entered  a  bill  was  introduced  to  repeal  this 
increase,  and  Mr.  Stephens  was  courageous  enough  to  oppose  it ; 
which  he  could  do  with  a  better  grace  than  some  others,  as  his 
bitterest  enemy  had  never  charged  him  with  avarice  or  with 
taking  a  bribe.  He  looked  at  the  matter  as  one  quite  irrespec 
tive  of  the  faults  or  excellences  of  members  or  of  their  legisla 
tion.  The  old  salary,  he  maintained,  was  altogether  insufficient; 
the  increase,  considering  the  enhanced  cost  of  living,  was  not 
excessive ;  and  Congress  had  ample  power  to  fix  the  salaries  of 
its  members  and  other  public  officers  at  what  it  might  deem  a 
proper  rate. 

It  was  thought  by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Stephens  that  his 
action  in  the  matters  just  mentioned  had  so  lessened  his  popu 
larity  that  |ie  would  not  be  proposed  as  a  candidate  for  re-election 
in  the  fall.  But  at  the  meeting  of  the  District  Convention, 
when  his-  name  was  presented,  there  was  some  opposition  at  first, 
but  he  was  finally  nominated  unanimously.  He  entered  into 
the  campaign  with  as  much  energy  as  his  weak  health  would 
permit,  and  at  Greensborough,  on  September  17th,  he  made 
the  first  open-air  speech  he  had  delivered  for  nearly  twelve 
years.  He  came  forward  limping  on  his  crutches  (which  he 
has  never  been  able  to  dispense  with  since  his  attack  in  1869), 
and  leaning  on  a  desk  provided  for  the  purpose,  delivered  a 
long  and  eloquent  address  on  the  questions  of  the  day.  He  also 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  529 

spoke  in  October  at  Augusta.  In  both  these  speeches  he  de 
fended  the  action  of  General  Grant  in  the  Louisiana  business, 
on  the  ground  that  the  President  was  compelled,  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  to  sustain  the  law  and  the  decisions  of  the  courts ;  and 
that  if  wrong  was  done  to  a  State,  the  fault  must  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  those  who  made  bad  laws,  or  gave  wrongful  decisions, 
and  not  at  the  door  of  the  Executive. 

His  appearance  in  public  was  everywhere  greeted  with  marks 
of  esteem  and  confidence ;  and  his  popularity  was  so  great,  that  the 
ideawrhich  had  been  entertained,  of  running  an  opposing  candidate, 
was  dropped,  and  he  was  again  elected  by  the  votes  of  both  parties. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  1874,  Mr.  Stephens  had  been  in 
volved  in  a  rather  Avarm  newspaper  controversy  with  the  Hon. 
B.  H.  Hill  of  his  own  State.  Mr.  Hill  had  delivered  a  "  His 
torical  Address,"  in  which,  as  Mr.  Stephens  maintained,  he  had 
misrepresented  certain  facts  in  the  history  of  the  war,  and  in 
especial  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference, 
and  the  attitude  of  Mr.  Stephens  toward  the  Confederate  Ad 
ministration.  The  controversy,  turning  on  questions  of  honor 
and  veracity,  took  a  quite  acrimonious  tone,  but  came  to  an  end 
after  a  while,  as  all  such  things  do.* 

By  this  time  he  had  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  Atlanta 
Sun.  Living  always  at  Crawfordville,  he  had  not  been  able 
to  keep  an  eye  on  the  business  management  of  the  paper,  and 
was  astonished  to  find  that  more  than  half  his  fortune  had  been 
sunk  in  it.  From  his  Constitutional  View  of  the  War  he  had 
received  about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  f  and  of  this  sum 
twenty  thousand  were  gone.  Although  during  a  considerable 
part  of  his  life  his  income  from  his  law  practice  had  been 
handsome,  and  his  personal  tastes  and  habits  were  of  the  sim 
plest,  yet  the  boundless  hospitality  of  Liberty  Hall,  and  his 
ever-ready  bounty  to  all  who  needed,  or  professed  to  need,  his 
assistance,  had  prevented  the  accumulation  of  any  large  fortune, 
and  this  loss  by  the  Sun  left  him  a  comparatively  poor  man. 


*  This  correspondence  will  be  published  hereafter  in  book-form  if  Mr. 
Stephens^  health  permits. 

f  He  received  a  royalty  of  twenty-five  cents  per  volume,  the  work  being 
in  two  volumes.     This  would  indicate  a  sale  of  seventy. thousand  copies. 

34 


530  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

He  was  not  able  to  take  any  very  active  part  in  the  session 
of  1874-75.  His  action  at  the  close  of  the  session  in  voting  to 
take  up  and  adopt  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Louisiana 
Affairs  subjected  him  to  some  unjust  censure.  By  his  vote, 
which  turned  the  scale,  not  only  the  consideration  of  that  report 
was  secured,  but  the  great  result  was  gained  that  the  notorious 
Returning  Board  of  Louisiana  received  the  unanimous  condem 
nation  of  the  House.  His  course  was  soon  after  fully  vindicated 
by  the  harmonious  settlement  of  the  Arkansas  question.  It  is 
true  that  since  that  time  we  have  seen  the  acts  of  this  Returning 
Board,  on  a  still  more  important  question,  upheld  by  the  very 
men  who  then  condemned  them ;  but  such  a  peripateia  no  man 
could  at  that  time  have  foreseen,  nor  do  we  believe  it  would 
have  been  sanctioned  even  then,  except  for  the  peculiar  strait  in 
which  the  leaders  of  the  party  found  themselves. 

During  the  summer  of  1875,  Mr.  Stephens's  health  was  so 
far  restored  that  he  was  able  to  make  several  journeys  into  dif 
ferent  parts  of  the  State.  On  the  5th  of  July  (the  Fourth  falling 
on  Sunday)  there  was  an  unusually  imposing  celebration  at 
Atlanta,  where,  as  the  orator  of  the  day,  he  delivered  an  eloquent 
address,  tracing  historically  the  rise  of  American  independence, 
the  principles  upon  which  the  States  united  into  a  confederation, 
the  origin  and  nature  of  the  Constitution  of  1787,  and,  in  a 

rd,  the  whole  foundation  of  our  political  institutions;  a  task 
which  his  long  and  profound  study  of  American  political  history 
qualified  him  to  perform  as  few  other  men  could  have  done. 
Dissenting  entirely  from  the  view  of  those  distinguished  South 
erners  who  thought  that  under  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
South  was  placed  such  a  celebration  was  a  mockery,  he  thought 
that  now,  more  than  ever,  was  the  time  to  look  back  to  the 
patriotic  deeds  of  our  ancestors,  study  the  origin  of  the  Republic, 
and  while  we  measured  the  distance  that  we  had  travelled  from 
the  old  ways  in  the  process  of  a  century,  to  resolve  that  we  would 
use  our  utmost  efforts  to  regain  the  right  road  and  revive  the 
ancient  spirit.  With  this  view  also  he  strongly  favored  the 
proposed  Centennial  Celebration  at  Philadelphia,  from  which 
he  hoped  for  happy  results, — results  which  probably  would  have 
followed  if  all  the  people  had  been  filled  with  his  spirit. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  531 

He  also  delivered  an  address  at  Anthon  Academy,  in  Houston 
County,  of  which  H.W.Baldwin,  A.M.,  was  Principal,  on  the 
subject  of  Education.  This  address  was  printed  in  the  news 
papers  throughout  the  State,  and  afterwards  extensively  circulated 
in  pamphlet  form. 

In  October  of  this  year  he  was  stricken  down  with  one  of 
the  most  violent  attacks  of  illness  he  had  ever  suffered  from, 
and  was  unable  to  reach  Washington  during  the  first  session  of 
the  Forty-fourth  Congress.  He  was  confined  to  his  bed  for 
nearly  nine  months,  and  his  life  was  frequently  despaired  of. 
He,  however,  at  last  slowly  improved  ;  and  in  July,  1876,  a 
short  time  after  he  had  been  able  to  leave  his  bed,  Mr.  Johnston 
made  him  a  rather  prolonged  visit,  when  the  former  was  more 
than  ever  struck  with  the  peculiar  domestic  economy  of  Liberty 
Hall.  This  is  probably  the  only  mansion  in  the  country  where 
the  domestic  and  social  arrangements  are  entirely  unaffected  by 
the  sickness  or  health  of  the  master  of  the  house.  (  Visitors 
come  and  go,  partake  of  his  hospitality,  make  themselves  at 
home,  whether  he  be  able  to  receive  them  in  person  or  not. 
Almost  every  train  that  stops  brings  coming  guests  and  bears 
away  departing.  N  Dinner  is  served  at  one,  and  all  who  happen 
to  be  present  take  their  places  at  the  board.  Later  visitors  take 
supper,  and  early  ones  breakfast;  and  as  the  night-train  is  sure 
to  bring  one  or  more  who  take  what  sleep  the  time  allows,  the 
breakfast-table  always  presents  new  faces. 

Mr.  Stephens's  own  habit  was  to  rise  at  nine,  and  after  dress 
ing,  to  be  rolled  in  his  easy-chair  out  upon  the  piazza,  where  he 
usually  called  for  a  game  of  whist, — an  amusement  which  had 
become  a  habit  with  him,  and  helped  to  solace  many  an  hour 
of  suffering.  After  an  hour  or  two  he  returned  to  bed  and 
rested  till  dinner,  when  he  rose  and  took  the  head  of  his  table, 
this  being  the  only  meal  he  took  in  the  dining-room.  After 
dinner  conversation  and  whist  were  in  order,  and  at  seven  he 
went  to  bed. 

Crawfordville  is  situated  on  the  Georgia  Railroad,  sixty-four 
miles  from  Augusta,  and  a  hundred  and  seven  from  Atlanta, 
on  the  foot-hills  of  the  great  Alleghany  ranges,  and  has  an 
elevation  of  six  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is 


532  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS. 

an  unpretending  village,  with  an  air  of  faded  respectability  as 
of  one  who  has  seen  better  days.  Liberty  Hall  is  just  beyond 
the  village,  in  a  skirt  of  native  forest.  Large  oaks  and  hick 
ories,  interspersed  with  many  fine  transplanted  trees  and  choice 
exotics,  are  scattered  over  an  inclosure  of  about  three  acres,  cast 
ing  a  delightful  shade  over  a  grassy  lawn.  The  house  is  a 
spacious  one,  and  furnished  with  elegant  simplicity.  At  the 
rear,  separated  by  a  piazza,  are  the  owner's  study  and  library, 
the  latter  more  richly  stored  than  is  usual  among  Southern  country 
gentlemen.  His  law  library  contains  about  fifteen  hundred 
volumes;  his  miscellaneous  library  about  five  thousand,  collected 
during  many  years,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  sixteen  thousand 
dollars. 

During  the  visit  referred  to  an  incident  of  more  than  common 
interest  occurred.  The  colored  Sunday-schools  of  Taliaferro  and 
the  adjacent  counties  assembled  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July 
in  a  grove  near  Crawford ville.  They  had  previously  expressed 
a  wish  to  march  in  procession  to  Liberty  Hall,  after  the  celebra 
tion  and  the  dinner,  and  sing  some  of  their  songs  to  Mr.  Stephens, 
if  agreeable  to  him,  to  which  he  cordially  assented.  The  scene 
which  followed  we  give  in  the  words  of  an  eye-witness. 

"At  about  half-past  two  in  the  afternoon  we  saw  them  coining,  pre 
ceded  by  the  brass  band  of  the  village,  and  a  goodly  sight  it  was.  Besides 
the  eight  or  ten  Taliaferro  County  schools,  there  were  a  number  from 
Greene,  Hancock,  and  Wilkes.  Mr.  Stephens  was  rolled  in  his  chair  out 
into  the  long  piazza  as  the  vast  crowds  advanced  up  the  lawn.  As  the 
various  delegations  arrived  at  the  piazza  they  filed  alternately  to  right 
and  left,  and  pausing  under  the  shade  of  the  trees,  each  in  turn  sang  a 
song,  and  then,  wheeling,  retired  to  the  rear  until  the  last  delegation  had 
sung.  Then,  all  forming  in  mass,  a  young  colored  man  standing  upon 
the  steps  announced  that  all  the  schools  would  sing  several  pieces  in  chorus. 

"  Perhaps  you  have  never  heard  a  Georgia  negro  sing.  At  all  events,  I 
am  sure  that  you  have  never  heard  three  thousand  of  them  sing  in  chorus 
as  they  did  on  that  afternoon,  partly  to  please  the  invalid  statesman  whom 
of  all  men  they  honor  and  love  the  most,  and  partly  in  their  humble  way 
for  the  worship  of  God.  As  they  began,  there  was  some  danger  lest  in 
such  a  throng  the  time  of  the  music  might  be  not  well  preserved  ;  but 
Mr.  Gorham,  the  leader  of  the  band,  stood  forward  on  the  piazza,  and 
marking  the  time  with  his  cane,  the  chorus  kept  in  even  harmony  to  the 
end.  Such  a  sight  and  such  a  hearing  I  might  desire,  but  cannot  expect 
to  witness  again.  Men  and  women,  young  and  old,  boys  and  girls,  and  even 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  533 

some  little  children,  lifted  up  their  voices  in  that  shady  old  grove,  and  sent 
them  towards  heaven  in  a  flood  of  harmony  in  which  not  a  discordant 
note  was  to  be  heard,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  tears  which  we  could 
not  repress  flowed  from  our  eyes.  The  most  of  these  schools  had  been 
taught  Sunday-school  music  under  the  superintendence  of  their  white 
pastors,  and  carried  their  music-books  in  their  hands.  The  negro's  vobe 
is  almost  always  true,  and  Avhen,  as  in  this  case,  it  has  had  some  training, 
it  is  wonderful  to  notice  the  harmony  and  compass  which  it  can  attain  in 
numerous  chorus.  In  such  chorus  these  sang  with  all  their  heart  and  all 
their  might  on  that  afternoon.  Their  grand  music, — I  can  find  no  fitter 
epithet, — their  neat  and  orderly  appearance,  with  their  Sunday  clothes  and 
simple  banners,  not  only  gratified  Mr.  Stephens,  but,  as  he  afterwards 
said,  enraptured  him. 

44  When  the  whole  chorus  was  over,  the  young  man  upon  the  steps,  as 
the  spokesman  of  the  assembly,  asked  Mr.  Stephens  to  address  them.  I 
have  known  him  for  many  years,  and  have  often  heard  him  speak,  but 
have  never  seen  him  under  the  influence  of  such  intense  feeling.  lie  could 
not  stand,  but  leaning  forward  in  his  chair,  with  his  arms  resting  on  the 
railing,  spoke  to  the  hushed  crowd;  and  weak  as  he  was,  and  even  in  that 
unfavorable  position,  his  voice  at  times,  under  the  inspiration  of  his  feel 
ings,  rang  out  so  that  it  could  be  heard  at  the  village  nearly  half  a  mile 
distant.  He  told  them  how  gratified  he  was  to  see  the  progress  the  colored 
people  were  making,  especially  in  his  neighborhood,  amid  the  friendly 
relations  of  the  two  races ;  he  advised  them,  cautioned  them,  encouraged 
them  to  persevere.  He  told  them  of  the  duties  they  owed  to  themselves, 
of  the  duty  of  educating  their  children  that  they  might  understand  the 
position  in  which  they  were  placed,  the  new  responsibilities  that  rested  on 
them,  and  the  all-importance  of  a  faithful  and  intelligent  performance  of 
duty.  His  heart  seemed  overflowing  with  kindness  and  benevolence,  and 
he  ceased  only  when  he  was  too  much  exhausted  to  speak  further. 

''  Several  songs  were  then  called  for  from  separate  schools,  after  which, 
as  the  sun  was  nearly  set,  they  marched  in  file  past,  and  each  touched  Mr. 
Stephens's  feeble  hand  as  they  retired.  Though  greatly  exhausted,  he 
was  reluctant  to  see  them  depart.  That  night,  on  his  bed,  he  said  that  no 
celebration  on  that  day  had  ever  delighted  him  so  much,  and,  if  it  had 
been  God's  will,  he  could  almost  have  wished  to  die  while  listening  to  that 
music  which  of  all  he  had  ever  heard  was  the  most  enrapturing.  And 
then  he  spoke  of  the  generally  good  condition  of  the  negroes  in  that  sec 
tion,  where  many  of  them  own  snug  little  farms  and  other  property,  and 
between  wrhom  and  their  white  neighbors  the  most  friendly  relations  obtain. 
Though  he  said  nothing  of  their  attachment  to  him  or  his  services  to  them, 
yet  his  strong  feeling  in  the  matter  was  very  plain.  It  is  delightful  to  see 
the  many  thousands  of  negroes  in  that  section  look  up  to  him  as  their 
greatest  and  best  earthly  friend,  and  his  influence  on  them  has  been  most 
beneficent." 


534  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

During  this  summer  he  was  attacked  by  so  dangerous  an 
illness  that  even  a  partial  recovery  seemed  almost  miraculous. 
But  at  the  assembling  of  the  nominating  convention  in  his  dis 
trict,  it  seemed  enough  for  his  constituents  to  know  that  he  was 
still  alive,  and  he  was  nominated  unanimously  for  the  next  Con 
gress,  and  elected.  He  had  so  far  recovered  that  he  was  able  to 
go  to  Washington  and  take  his  seat.  His  appearance  in  the 
House  is  thus  vividly  described  by  a  not  altogether  unfriendly 
newspaper  correspondent  : 

"  A  little  way  up  the  aisle  sits  a  queer-looking  bundle.  An  immense 
cloak,  a  high  hat,  and  peering  somewhere  out  of  the  middle  a  thin,  pale, 
sad  little  face.  This  brain  and  eyes  enrolled  in  countless  thicknesses  of 
flannel  and  broadcloth  wrappings  belong  to  the  Hon.  Alexander  II.  Ste 
phens,  of  Georgia.  How  anything  so  small  and  sick  and  sorrowful  could 
get  here  all  the  way  from  Georgia  is  a  wonder.  If  he  were  to  draw  his 
last  breath  any  instant  you  would  not  be  surprised.  If  he  were  laid  out 
in  his  coffin  he  needn't  look  any  different,  only  then  the  fires  would  have 
gone  out  in  those  burning  eyes.  Set,  as  they  are,  in  the  wax-white  face, 
they  seem  to  burn  and  blaze.  Still,  on  the  countenance  is  stamped  that 
pathos  of  long-continued  suffering  which  goes  to  the  heart.  That  he  is 
here  at  all  to  offer  the  counsels  of  moderation  and  patriotism  proves  how 
invincible  is  the  soul  that  dwells  in  this  shrunken  and  aching  frame.  He 
took  the  modified  oath  in  his  chair,  and,  when  he  had  taken  it,  his  friends 
picked  him  up  in  it  and  carried  him  off  as  if  he  were  a  feather.  So  old 
Thaddeus  Stevens  used  to  be  picked  up  and  carried  in  and  out  when  this 
same  man,  of  the  same  name  and  an  opposite  lineage,  wras  the  Vice-Presi 
dent  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  The  old  lion  of  Pennsylvania  rests 
from  the  fight;  and  (the  great  'rebel'  of  Georgia,  with  the  very  shadow  of 
death  -upon  his  face,  lifts  his  failing  voice  in  behalf  of  moderation  and 


Not  long  after  he  had  taken  his  seat  ne  was  again  prostrated 
by  an  attack  of  pneumonia  (January  1st,  1877),  and  laid  upon  a 
bed  from  which  few  of  his  friends  dared  to  hope  that  he  would 
ever  rise.  He  was  himself  convinced  that  his  end  was  near,  but 
gave  an  example  of  how  tenacious  vitality  may  be,  even  in  the 
frailest  bodies.  For  weeks  together  he  took  almost  no  food, 
never  slept  but  under  the  influence  of  narcotics,  and  grew  more 
and  more  emaciated,  until  it  seemed  almost  incredible  that  a  form 
so  attenuated  could  retain  life  at  all,  and  he  himself  wondered 
that  he  did  not  die.  Once  a  report  of  his  death  was  telegraphed 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   IL  STEPHENS.  535 

all  over  the  country,  and  most  of  the  newspapers  published 
obituary  notices  and  short  biographical  sketches,  which,  after 
wards,  he  found  a  sort  of  grim  amusement  in  reading.  All  the 
houses  in  Crawfordville  were  draped  with  mourning.  When 
the  report  was  found  to  be  false,  the  greatest  joy  prevailed; 
there  were  congratulations  and  handshakings,  and  the  little  town 
took  holiday. 

His  spirits  during  this  attack  were  at  times  unusually  de 
pressed.  Being  asked  the  reason  of  this,  "  Oh,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  to  be  unable  to  do  anything  of  use  to  any  one,  and  yet  not  to 
die!"  His  memory  frequently  reverted  to  his  departed  friends 
and  kindred,  with  more  than  usual  sadness ;  and  with  tears 
streaming  down  his  cheeks  he  would  repeat,  again  and  again, 
the  names  of  his  father  and  mother,  of  his  sister,  and  his  beloved 
Linton. 

On  one  occasion  he  and  K.  M.  J.  had  been  reading  together 
some  pages  of  a  memoir  of  his  brother.  On  the  next  day  he  thus 
wrote  (by  the  hand  of  his  secretary) : 

"  I  was  full  to  overflowing  when  you  left  me  last  night.  Had  you  lin 
gored  another  moment,  or  said  another  word,  I  should  have  gushed  into 
tears.  Your  reading  the  letters  about  Linton  had  stirred  my  grief  afresh, 
and  brought  vividly  to  my  mind  the  remembrance  of  the  day  you  and  he 
last  spent  together  at  my  house.  Oh,  the  memories  of  that  day  !" 

He  still  persisted  in  seeing  visitors,  old  and  new;  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  political  events  of  the  day,  and  would  occasionally 
jest  with  a  gaiety  strangely  contrasting  with  his  death-like 
appearance.  In  the  contest  before  the  Electoral  Commission,  he 
strongly  dissuaded  from  any  forcible  resistance,  though  he  re 
garded  the  evidence  as  conclusive  of  great  frauds  in  the  returns 
from  Florida  and  Louisiana,  and  thought  that  the  Commission 
acted  very  wrongly  in  not  going  behind  these  returns  and  setting 
them  aside  on  account  of  those  frauds. 

In  an  article  published  in  the  International  Review  (January, 
1878)  Mr.  Stephens  examined  the  whole  question,  from  the  his 
torical  point  of  view.  He  showed  that  the  design  of  the  Con 
vention  of  1787,  in  establishing  the  system  of  State  Electoral 
Colleges,  was  not,  as  some  alleged,  to  take  the  liberty  of  choice 
from  the  people,  but  t(  had  its  origin  in  the  fixed  purpose  of  the 


536  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   U.  STEPHENS. 

fathers  of  the  Kepublic  to  preserve  the  federative  feature  in  that 
system  of  government  for  States  united  which  they  were  framing. 
It  was  to  preserve  the  individuality  of  the  States,  as  the  integral 
and  equal  members  of  the  Government.  They  were  forming  a 
constitution  for  a  number  of  States  united  in  a  Federal  union, 
and  not  for  a  homogeneous  mass  of  people,  constituting  a  single 
State,  commonwealth,  or  nation."  It  was  because  of  their"  de 
termination  to  secure  this  power  to  the  States  as  States  that  the 
proposition  to  choose  electors  by  direct  vote  of  the  people  was 
persistently  rejected.  This  feature  is  conspicuous  in  the  provision 
for  a  failure  to  elect;  in  which  case  the  House  elects  the  Presi 
dent,  but  the  vote  is  taken  by  States,  each  State  having  one  vote. 
And  in  the  count  in  ordinary  cases  it  is  done  by  both  Houses  in 
joint  convention,  where  the  combined  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  from  each  State  exactly  equal  her  Electoral  College. 

The  true  rule,  as  shown  by  the  Constitution,  he  maintains  to 
be: 

"  That  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  count,  involving  questions  of  dis 
puted  votes,  and  all  matters  relating  to  the  validity  or  invalidity  of  the 
returns  furnished  by  the  President  of  the  Senate,  as  well  as  all  questions 
touching  the  constitutional  qualifications  of  electors,  shall  be  determined 
by  both  Houses  in  joint  convention.  Had  it  been  the  intention  that  these 
questions  should  be  determined  by  each  House  separately,  .  .  .  why  was 
it  not  so  expressly  said  ?  Why  was  the  power  of  counting  conferred  on 
both  Houses,  if  both  Houses  in  joint  action  were  not  to  determine  the 
question?  and  how  could  both  Houses  in  joint  action  determine  such  a 
question  in  any  other  way,  as  the  Constitution  stands,  than  by  a  per  capita 
vote?" 

The  inference  naturally  follows  that  there  is  no  defect  in  the 
Constitution ;  and  that  all  that  is  necessary,  to  avoid  any  possi 
ble  misconstruction,  is,  not  the  adoption  of  a  joint  rule,  but  the 
passage  of  a  law  to  meet  such  cases  should  any  such  recur.  The 
competency  of  Congress  to  raise  a  commission  or  establish  a 
tribunal  to  decide  the  matters  in  dispute,  Mr.  Stephens  does  not 
deny,  though  he  looks  upon  it  as  not  the  best  mode  of  attaining 
the  end. 

The  Electoral  Commission  having  decided  favorably  to  Mr. 
Hayes,  Mr.  Stephens  at  once  advocated  an  acquiescence  in  the 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS.  537 

decision.  In  conversation  he  remarked,  "  We  had  a  first-rate 
case;  but  we  lost  it 'by  imperfect  pleadings."  He  was  gratified 
by  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Hayes  in  removing  the  troops  in 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana,  and  foresaw  the  happy  results 
that  speedily  followed ;  and  far  from  desiring  to  embarrass  or 
discredit  the  Administration,  he  has  always  given  his  approval 
and  support  to  such  of  its  measures  as  were  wise  and  salutary. 

The  health  of  Mr.  Stephens  during  the  summer  of  1877  was 
rather  better  than  usual.  At  the  close  of  the  session  he  returned 
to  Georgia,  and  in  September  visited  some  friends  in  Baltimore 
and  New  York. 

In  the  present  session  of  Congress  Mr.  Stephens,  with  health 
much  improved,  has  played  a  very  prominent  part,  and  never 
has  he  exercised  greater  influence,  or  been  regarded  with  more 
general  respect.  The  correspondent  of  a  Northern  paper  said 
of  him,  in  language  scarcely  exaggerated,^"  Whatever  he  wants 
done  is  done,  and  every  measure  he  advocates  passes^"  Through 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Speaker  Randall,  he  has  had  the  use  of  the 
Speaker's  room,  in  the  rear  of  the  chamber,  and  here  he  usually 
comes  an  hour  or  so  before  the  meeting,  and  is  punctual  at  roll- 
call.  His  seat  is  in  the  open  area  in  front  of  the  Speaker,  where 
he  occasionally  exercises  himself  by  rolling  himself  in  his  wheeled 
chair.  Still,  the  business  of  the  day  is  no  small  tax  upon  his 
strength,  and  he  economizes  the  time  spent  in  the  House  as  much 
as  possible.  His  long  experience  enables  him  to  see,  early  in 
the  day,  the  drift  of  the  day's  business,  and  he  avails  himself  of 
any  opportunity  when  he  may  retire  without  disadvantage.  In 
this  way  he  has  gone  through  a  surprising  amount  of  business, 
among  other  things,  leading  in  conduct  of  the  great  financial 
measure  which  has  now  become  a  law,  and  which  he  regards  as 
highly  beneficial. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  event  in  his  career  during  the 
present  session  has  been  his  speech  in  Congress  on  the  12th  of 
February,  at  the  uncovering  of  Carpenter's  painting,  "  The 
Signing  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation."  This  was  the  day 
on  which  he  entered  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  It  seemed 
almost  an  "  irony  of  fate"  that  such  a  duty  should  be  assigned 
to  a  former  slaveholder  and  Vice-President  of  the  Confederate 


538  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 

States.  This  speech  was  made  off-hand,  without  notes,  and  was 
listened  to  by  perhaps  the  largest  audience  ever  assembled  in  the 
chamber.  We  give  it  in  full  in  the  Appendix.* 

This  speech  was  extensively  circulated  and  rep ubli shed  through 
out  the  country.  Congratulatory  letters  poured  in  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  from  men  of  all  shades  of  party.  But  of 
all  such  letters,  Mr.  Stephens  most  highly  appreciated  one  from 
President  Barnard,  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  which  was 
as  follows : 

"  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE,  NEW  YORK,  February  16th,  1878. 

"  To  HON.  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  want  to  thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for  your  very 
beautiful,  judicious,  and  patriotic  address  on  the  occasion  of  the  presenta 
tion  and  reception  of  the  Carpenter  picture  of  Lincoln. 

"  It  is  indeed  a  marvellous  thing  how,  after  her  trials,  the  South  still 
continues  to  maintain  her  noble  pre-eminence  in  statesmanship  and  in 
moral  dignity  ;  and  still  more  marvellous,  perhaps,  that  one  who  has  been 
so  conspicuous  in  the  councils  of  the  Nation  before  the  war,  and  also  during 
the  progress  of  that  painful  struggle  had  been  identified  with  equal  promi 
nence  with  the  Southern  cause,  should  continue  after  all  to  command 
equally,  North  and  South,  a  homage,  a  respect,  and  a  confidence  which  arc 
awarded  by  the  people  to  hardly  any  other.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  a  noble 
tribute  to  a  character  always  consistently  distinguished  for  unselfish  devo 
tion  to  principle  and  to  a  tone  of  sentiment  so  far  elevated  above  the  base 
and  mean  passions  which  disfigure  so  much  of  our  public  life,  as  to  be 
almost  without  a  parallel.  The  recent  address  to  which  I  have  referred  is 
in  perfect  harmony  with  this  character,  and  it  has  been  read  with  deep 
gratification  by  millions  of  your  countrymen. 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  F.  A.  P.  BARNARD." 

*  Appendix  E. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

* 

Congressional  Duties — Re-elected  to  Congress — General  R.  Taylor's  charges 
— Facts  of  his  Release  from  Fort  Warren — Interviewers — A  Georgia 
Dinner — Writes  a  Book — James  P.  Espy — His  Seventieth  Birthday — 
An  Accident— Elected  Governor— Pardons — The  Sesqui-Centennial— Ill 
ness — Death — Concluding  Remarks. 

FIVE  years  have  passed  since  the  foregoing  account  of  Mr. 
Stephens's  life  was  written,  and  his  biographers  resume  the  pen 
to  add  its  last  chapter.  We  can  no  longer  say  of  him,  as  here 
tofore,  that  he  is  and  does  thus;  he  now  belongs  to  the  past,  and 
the  little  we  have  yet  to  tell  must  be  told  in  a  sadder  tense. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1878  Mr.  Stephens  thought,  more 
seriously  than  ever  before,  of  retiring  from  Congress.  The  ap 
prehension  that  he  might  no  longer  be  physically  equal  to  the 
combats  and  labors  which  his  position  required,  pressed  upon  his 
mind  the  question  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  make  way  for 
a  younger  and  stronger  man  ;  and  his  feelings  in  the  matter  had 
been  so  often  and  so  openly  expressed,  that  it  came  to  be  looked 
on  as  a  settled  fact  that  he  would  refuse  to  be  a  candidate  at  the 
October  elections.  A  number  of  young  men,  some  of  distin- 

ti  O 

guished  ability,  had  been  waiting  for  some  time  for  his  retire 
ment  to  open  to  them  the  chances  of  succession,  and  they  now 
felt  sure  that  the  time  had  come. 

Yet,  in  reality,  the  work  done  by  Mr.  Stephens  in  Congress 
was  far  more  effective  than  was  admitted  by  those  who  urged 
his  physical  infirmities  as  an  objection  to  his  continued  re-elec 
tions.  While,  even  as  in  the  times  before  the  war,  these  dis 
qualified  him  from  taking  the  most  active  place  at  the  head  of 
political  associations,  on  the  other  hand  they  favored  study,  ma 
ture  reflection,  and  the  vigorous,  unbroken  work  of  the  brain. 
His  influence  upon  politics  was  to  the  full  as  important  as  that 
of  any  other  man  from  his  district  would  have  been.  He  watched 

539 


540  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.  STEPHENS. 

all  political  and  legislative  movements  with  unceasing  vigilance, 
and  often,  even  when  confined  to  bed,  guided  the  course  and 
indicated  the  methods  of  political  action./^  No  Democrat  was 
more  frequently  consulted  by  leading  men  from  all  sections  and 
all  shades  of  opinionN  To  such  consultations  it  was  well  known 
that  sickness,  unless  of  unusual  severity,  was  no  bar.  Many  a 
time,  when  confined  to  his  bed,  he  was  visited  at  late  hours  of 
the  night  by  members  of  Congress  to  consult  upon  the  course  of 
the  morrow ;  and  often  the  leaders  were  seen  sitting  by  his  bed 
side  with  heads  bent  over  to  catch  the  feeble  voice  that  came 
from  among  the  pillows.  As  he  was,  for  nearly  the  whole  time 
of  his  service,  in  the  minority,  there  was  little  opportunity  for 
the  origination  of  measures.  During  the  short  period  of  party 
majority,  his  influence  was  somewhat  lessened  by  his  steadfast 
opposition  to  the  Potter  resolutions  concerning  the  title  of  Mr. 
Hayes.  Many  of  those  who  at  the  time  were  most  displeased 
with  his  course  in  this  matter,  came  afterwards  to  admit  that  his 
judgment  had  been  sound. 

Apart  from  his  strictly  legislative  and  political  duties,  he  did 
an  enormous  amount  of  other  work,  and  that  not  for  his  con 
stituents  alone.  Claims  upon  the  various  departments  were  in 
trusted  to  his  management,  both  from  Georgia  and  from  other 
States, — some  so  small,  or  so  hard  to  verify,  that  the  proper  rep 
resentatives  would  not  be  troubled  with  them, — and  he  was  never 
known  to  slight  such  applications. 

He  took  much  interest  in  the  work  of  his  committee, — that  on 
Coinage,  Weights,  and  Measures ;  and  he  favored  an  increase  in 
the  circulation  of  silver,  believing  that  it  would  work  to  the 
advantage  of  the  poorer  classes.  If  this  belief  be  thought  at  all 
quixotic,  it  was  in  entire  consistency  with  the  hopes,  sympathies, 
and  aims  of  his  whole  public  life. 

His  rooms  at  the  National  Hotel  were  always  open  to  callers 
of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  life.  The  trust  that  was  reposed 
in  him  by  the  masses  of  the  people  was  really  most  affecting,  and 
he  felt  it  deeply.  Once  he  told,  with  a  faint  smile  of  pleasure, 
the  answer  given  in  1878  by  a  countryman,  in  whose  presence 
some  one  had  been  enlarging  on  Mr.  Stephens's  physical  infirmi 
ties.  "  Well,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  as  long  as  Aleck  ?s  alive, 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   If.  STEPHENS.  541 

and  '11  go  thar,  I'm  a-goin'  to  vote  for  him.  If  he  can't  do 
nothin'  else,  he  can  send  his  crutches  up  thar  to  Congress,  and 
they  '11  do  as  much  as  the  speakin'  o'  some  o'  them  that  want  his 
place.  And,  gentlemen,  thar's  a  heap  more  o'  my  way  o'  think- 
in'  ;  and  that  you  mout  believe  !" 

Upon  his  return  to  Washington,  after  a  visit  to  R.  M.  J.  (who 
went  back  with  him),  Mr.  Stephens  found  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Wright,  of  Augusta,  asking  if  he  was  to  be  considered  out  of  the 
field;  and  at  the  same  time  he  heard  that  a  leading  politician 
of  his  district  had  been  in  Washington  during  his  absence,  and 
had  started  for  Georgia  just  before  his  return.  At  once  his  face 
assumed  the  peculiar  smile  which  always  marked  the  awakening 
of  the  combative  instinct : 

"They  think  they  will  not  only  retire  me,  but  ignore  me,  it 
seems.  I'll  show  them  that  they  cannot  do  it !" 

He  said  little  more  upon  the  subject  during  the  rest  of  the 
day,  had  his  game  of  whist  in  the  evening,  and  went  to  bed  at 
ten  o'clock.  It  was,  however,  well  understood  by  his  intimate 
friends  that  this  retirement  was  no  signal  for  their  departure; 
as  he  would  often  chat  with  them  at  his  bedside  for  hours,  and 
sometimes,  though  not  often,  indulge  in  a  social  smoke.  On 
this  occasion  he  had  been  in  bed  an  hour  or  so,  talking,  among 
other  things,  about  the  answer  to  be  sent  to  Mr.  Wright,  when 
another  friend  dropped  in.  Suddenly  Mr.  Stephens  asked  him 
to  write  a  telegram  for  him  in  about  these  words : 

"  Yours  received.  I  shall  stand  for  re-election."  His  guest, 
surprised  at  his  sudden  resolution,  asked  him  if  he  would  not 
take  more  time  for  reflection,  and  was  at  once  answered,  "No; 
I  want  it  to  come  out  in  to-morrow  morning's  Chronicle"  (Mr. 
Wright's  paper).  "  I  want  to  strangle  in  their  nest  these  little 
hawks." 

Steps  toward  choosing  his  successor  had  already  been  taken 
in  some  of  the  counties;  and  even  after  his  determination  was 
known,  many  of  the  leading  politicians  were  still  disposed  to 
rebuke  what  they  Considered  his  attitude  of  defiance.  But  this 
was  soon  reconsidered  when  the  feeling  of  the  people  was  known ; 
and  the  Convention,  seeing  that  no  other  nominee  would  have  a 
chance  of  success  if  Mr.  Stephens  chose  to  run  as  an  independent 


542  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

candidate,  gave  him  the  nomination.  At  the  election  of  1880 
the  experiment  was  not  attempted ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
had  he  been  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1882,  no  one  would 
have  taken  the  field  against  him. 

It  is  true  that  during  these  years  he  often  spoke  of  retiring; 
but  it  was  evident  that  he  had  not  made  up  his  mind.  Several 
reasons  contributed  to  this  persistence,  and  they  serve  to  illus 
trate  the  peculiarity  of  his  character.  If  his  brother  Linton 
had  not  died,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  would  ere  this 
have  withdrawn  from  public  life,  of  which  lie  had  long  been 
over- weary.  But  the  death  of  this  loved  brother  seemed  to  sever 
the  last  tie  that  bound  him  to  life.  He  saw  plainly  that  he 
must  either  sink  into  utter  prostration  of  spirit  or  plunge  into 
incessant  activity.  He  felt  that  he 

—  must  mix  himself  with  action,  lest  he  wither  by  despair." 


It  was  the  choice  between  death  and  life  that  was  offered  him; 
and  his  choice  was  the  instinct  of  self-preservation.  And  some 
of  the  old  feelings  of  his  youth  came  back  to  him  when  the  ap 
proval,  confidence,  and  continued  affection  of  the  people  followed 
his  action. 

The  void  in  his  heart  was,  to  some  slight  extent,  filled  by  the 
two  or  three  most  intimate  friends  to  whom  he  turned  with  almost 
beseeching  love  and  tenderness.  It  is  touching  to  see,  in  his  let 
ters,  how  he  craves  their  presence,  in  which  all  his  old  associa 
tions  revive ;  how  grateful  he  is  for  such  visits  as  could  be  made, 
during  which  he  would  scarcely  leave  them  out  of  his  sight; 
and  how  their  departure  renews  the  old  sadness  and  the  old  pain. 
On  such  occasions  he  would  speak  of  his  longing  to  rest  from 
public  life;  but  from  this  the  friend  who  saw  him  most,  always 
dissuaded  him,  not  only  for  the  reasons  above  given,  but  also  be 
cause,  from  his  habits,  the  salary  was  indispensable  to  him.  For 
himself  he  wanted  nothing;  but  his  indiscriminate  hospitality, 
the  many  young  persons  he  was  helping  to  educate,  his  utter 
inability  to  refuse  any  appeal,  even  from  the  most  unworthy,  to 
his  charity,  demanded  a  constant  and  considerable  income ;  and 
as  it  was,  he  was  often  cratnped  in  means,  and,  no  doubt,  would 
have  been  made  a  bankrupt  but  for  his  horror  of  debt. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  543 

During  this  winter  Mr.  Stephens  spent  most  of  his  time  in 
his  chambers,  except  when  he  thought  his  presence  specially 
needed  in  the  House  or  at  the  sessions  of  his  Committee.  But 
his  ill  health  did  not  prevent  his  attention  to  business  nor  to 
his  heavy  correspondence.  He  delighted  to  gather  his  friends, 
especially  old  friends  from  Georgia,  around  his  table,  and  was 
deeply  disappointed  if  an  invitation  could  not  be  accepted.  Re 
ferring  to  a  disappointment  of  this  kind,  he  writes  (to  R.  M.  J.) : 

<;  I  have  peculiar  feelings.  It  seems  that  my  days  are  drawing  near 
their  end,  and  yet  I  am  as  well  as  usual.  I  am  impressed  with  a  recol 
lection  of  the  feelings  expressed  by  Linton  the  last  night  he  spent  with  me. 
He  said  he  felt  as  if  his  days  were  approaching  their  end.*  It  does  not 
lill  me  with  sadness,  and  (yet  it  makes  me  anxious  to  be  as  much  with 
devoted,  life-long  friends  as  possible. "\ 

He  was  anxious  about  the  contest  for  the  Speakership  at  the 
opening  of  Congress.  On  March  10th  he  writes : 

"  The  contest  for  the  Speakership  is  waxing  fierce.  Democrats  are  fight 
ing  Democrats  as  angrily  as  they  ever  fought  Radicals.  I  am  somewhat 
removed  from  the  seat  of  war,  but  the  din  of  the  battle  is  heard  all  over 
the  city.  The  contest  is  not  for  the  Speakership  only,  but  for  the  clerk 
ship  and  office  of  doorkeeper,  while  the  strife  and  struggle  for  the  good 
positions  in  the  Senate  under  the  new  organization  of  that  body  is  quite 
characteristic  of  the  times." 

On  the  12th  he  writes,  deferring  a  promised  visit : 

"  Such  is  the  intense  feeling  on  the  subject  of  the  organization  of  the 
House  on  Tuesday  that  I  am  almost  afraid  to  leave  the  city  lest  some 
accident  should  happen  that  would  prevent  my  presence  when  required." 

One  of  the  greatest  surprises  that  ever  befell  Mr.  Stephens 
was  the  attack  made  upon  him  by  General  Richard  Taylor  in 
a  published  article,  in  which  it  was  alleged  that  he  had  received 
with  coldness  an  application  made  to  him  by  General  Taylor  to 
aid  in  obtaining  the  release  of  ex-President  Davis.  Mr.  Ste 
phens  proved  that  at  the  time  General  Taylor  professed  to  have 
met  him  in  Washington  he  was  himself  a  prisoner  in  Fort  War 
ren.  The  general  in  reply  admitted  his  mistake  as  to  the  date, 

*  This  remark  was  made  by  Linton  just  two  weeks  before  his  death,  in 
July,  1872. 


544  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

but  insisted  upon  the  fact.     In  a  letter  of  April  28th  (to  R.  M.  J.), 
Mr.  Stephens  thus  alludes  to  this  matter : 

"As  for  Dick  Taylor's  attack  on  me,  I  care  very  little  about  it.  The 
statement  in  his  note  that  the  interview  referred  to  was  in  the  latter  part 
of  October  instead  of  July  is  as  utterly  unfounded  as  his  first  assertion. 
I  was  at  home  the  latter  part  of  October.  I  did  pass  through  Washington 
on  my  return  home  after  my  parole  from  Fort  Warren.  I  left  that  fort  on 
the  13th  of  October,  and  spent  one  day  in  Washington  in  going  to  Georgia. 
I  stopped  at  Willard's  Hotel,  but  saw  no  man  connected  with  the  Govern 
ment  here  during  the  day  I  remained  over  except  President  Johnson.  1 
called  and  paid  my  respects  to  him.  I  was  a  paroled  prisoner,  and  the 
statement  that  I  was  in  favor  with  the  Government  officials  at  that  time  is 
utterly  untrue.  I  do  know  that  General  Taylor  did  not  call  upon  me  at 
that  time  upon  the  subject  he  states.  The  idea  is  utterly  preposterous. 
Indeed,  I  have  no  remembrance  of  ever  seeing  General  Taylor  to  speak  to 
him  in  my  life ;  but  the  idea  that  he  should  have  called  upon  me  for  the 
purpose  he  states  at  that  time,  even  if  he  had  called  and  I  had  not  known 
him,  is,  as  I  have  said,  utterly  preposterous." 

With  regard  to  Mr.  Stephens's  release  from  Fort  Warren, 
above  referred  to,  he  was  not  aware  until  long  after  that  it  was 
largely  due  to  the  active  intervention  of  Mr.  John  W.  Garrett. 
In  the  fall  of  1865,  Mr.  W.  Prescott  Smith,  Superintendent  of 
Transportation  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  while  on  a 
tour  to  the  White  Mountains,  stopped  at  Boston  to  visit  Mr. 
Stephens.  Greatly  shocked  at  the  condition  to  which  confine 
ment  had  reduced  the  prisoner,  and  the  sufferings  which  it  was 
evident  would  soon  put  an  end  to  his  life,  Mr.  Smith  at  once 
abandoned  his  proposed  tour  and  hurried  back  to  Baltimore  to 
solicit  the  offices  of  Mr.  Garrett  with  the  Government.  Mr. 
Garrett  went  to  Washington  the  next  morning,  but  his  applica 
tion  was  met  by  a  stern  refusal  from  Mr.  Stanton,  who  declared, 
with  bitterness,  that  he  looked  upon  Mr.  Stephens  as  more  re 
sponsible  than  any  other  man  in  the  South  for  the  secession, 
because  of  hj.s  eminent  abilities,  and  his  refusal  to  exert  them  to 
prevent  a  rupture,  which  it  was  known  that  he  did  not  approve, 
at  a  time  when  such  exertions  might  have  frustrated  the  whole 
design. 

Mr.  Garrett  replied  that  Mr.  Stanton  judged  Mr.  Stephens 
from  the  stand-point  of  the  North;  that  he  was  himself  fully 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  545 

convinced  that  Mr.  Stephens  had  acted  under  as  firm  a  conviction 
of  duty  and  of  patriotism  as  the  Secretary  himself;  and  that  he 
had  no  doubt  whatever  that  had  Mr.  Stanton  been  born  and 
reared  at  the  South  and  in  the  Southern  political  faith,  his  ser 
vices  on  the  side  of  the  South  would  have  been  as  ready,  as 
eminent,  and  as  conscientious  as  they  had  been  on  that  of  the 
North.  He  added  that  if  Mr.  Stephens,  as  was  more  than  prob 
able,  should  die  from  this  totally  unnecessary  rigor,  the  reputation 
of  those  who  were  responsible  for  it  would  be  sullied  forever. 

The  discussion  was  prolonged  to  some  length,  and  the  final 
result  was  the  success  of  Mr.  Garrett's  intervention  and  the  re 
lease  of  Mr.  Stephens.  Some  years  after,  Mr.  Garrett  and  Mr. 
Stephens  happening  to  meet  (at  the  house  of  R.  M.  J.),  the 
grateful  remembrance  of  the  one,  and  the  natural  gratification 
of'  the  other,  were  very  impressive  to  those  who  witnessed  the 
meeting. 

We  now  return  to  the  correspondence.  On  January  10th 
Mr.  Stephens  writes : 

u  I  think  it  probable  that  Congress  will  adjourn  early  next  week.  We 
are  getting  all  things  in  right  shape.  The  limitations  on  appropriations 
to  the  army  at  the  polls  as  deputy  marshals  are  just  where  I  wanted  them 
at  the  beginning/'  • 

We  have  more  than  once  spoken  of  his  remarkable  fondness 
for  dogs  and  interest  in  their  ways.  Upon  his  return  home  this 
summer  he  discovered  that  a  new  subject  had  been  found  for  the 
exercise  of  these  qualities,  in  a  puppy  which  the  servants  had 
picked  up  somewhere  and  domiciled  in  the  family  under  the 
name  of  "  General  Toombs."  Now,  at  Mr.  Stephens's  first  re 
turn,  his  old  canine  friends,  Frank  and  Boz,  did  not"  run  to 
meet  him  as  usual,  a  fact  which  had  given  him  so  much  dis 
quietude  that  he  had  enlarged  upon  it  in  a  letter.  He  now 
writes  to  say  that  he  Has  found  the  key  to  the  mystery  in  the 
new  puppy. 

"  It  was  the  presence  of  this  little  scion  of  their  race.  It  is  said  that 
old  dogs  greatly  dislike  puppies,  while  old  horses  are  very  fond  of  colts. 
The  philosophy  of  this  fact  in  natural  history  used  to  be  explained  when 
I  was  a  boy  by  Tom  Ray,  one  of  the  sages  of  his  class,  upon  the  grounds 
that  old  dogs  were  jealous  of  the  rivalship  of  the  young  ones  in  the 

35 


546  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

affections  of  their  masters,  while  old  horses  look  hopefully  upon  colts  as 
rising  aids  to  bear  a  portion  of  their  burthens/' 

Many  following  pages  are  devoted  to  a  recent  illness  of  this 
PuPP)r?  afc  the  crisis  of  which  his  master  lay  awake  nearly  all 
night,  prescribing  and  receiving  bulletins  of  the  invalid's  fluctu 
ating  conditions  from  the  nurses  who  had  him  in  charge. 

"At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  was  given  up  as  hopelessly  gone; 
at  four  o'clock,  just  as  day  was  breaking,  Harry  reported  that  his  breathing 
was  getting  too, weak  to  be  heard,  indicating  a  near  dissolution.  It  was 
then  I  advised  whiskey.  Soon  after  this  he  became  quiet  and  went  into  a 
profound  sleep." 

The  account  winds  up  with  : 

"  There  was  general  joy  on  the  place  when  it  was  authoritatively  stated 
that  the  General  was  better,  and  thought  to  be  out  of  danger." 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  Mr.  Stephens  went  to*Louisville  on 
private  business,  and  while  there  was  much  gratified  by  the  re 
spect  shown  him.  A  public  exhibition  of  industries  was  going 
on,  and  a  committee  of  citizens  waited  upon  him  and  invited 
him  to  the  hall,  where  he  made  an  address. 

During  the  winter  of  1879—80  Mr.  Stephens  was  confined 
most  of  the  time  to  his  room  by  suffering  from  neuralgia. 
He  writes  on  January  3d  recalling  memories  of  past  times,  in 
which  the  last  night  of  the  year  was  always  a  solemn  season  with 
him,  and  expressing  the  foreboding  that  he  shall  never  see  an 
other  new  year.  This  presentiment  was  probably  increased  by  a 
letter  which  he  incloses,  received  from  ex-Governor  H.  V.  John 
son, — for  many  years,  with  a  single  interruption,  his  affectionate 
friend, — written  in  a  serious  mood,  and  reflecting  on  the  prob 
ably  speedy  close  of  the  earthly  careers  of  both.  Mr.  Stephens 
was  afterwards  preparing  to  make  the  Governor  a  visit,  when  he 
received  news  of  his  somewhat  sudden  death. 

On  January  26th,  1880,  he  wrote  to  K.  M.  J.,  inclosing  an 
article  on  himself  which  had  shortly  before  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Times,  and  giving  some  account  of  the  paper  and  its  au 
thor,  part  of  which  we  quote  as  showing  how  he  was  pestered 
and  exploitered  by  interviewers  and  reporters.  One  of  these, 
one  Mr.  Carroll,  had  called  on  him  the  previous  summer  at 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  547 

Long  Branch,  where  a  number  of  the  Committee  for  Revising 
the  Rules  of  the  House  had  met,  and  had  endeavored  to  get  from 
him  some  materials  for  a  sketch  of  his  life,  in  which  he  had  but 
very  partial  success,  and  was  therefore  obliged  to  supplement  the 
deficiencies  from  other  sources.  Mr.  Stephens  says : 

"  I  considered  Howard  Carroll's  article  a  sort  of  romance.  I  never  had 
twenty  minutes'  talk  with  him  in  my  life.  He  called  to  see  me  at  Long 
Branch  for  an  interview  for  a  general  sketch,  and  especially  my  views 
upon  the  General  Government.  As  to  the  latter,  he  took  down  in  short 
hand  what  he  has  very  well  produced  in  the  last  chapter.  As  to  the 
former,  I  handed  him  a  copy  of  your  and  Dr.  Browne's  biography,  and 
told  him  that  in  that  he  would  find  all  the  material  facts  of  my  life  accu 
rately  set  forth.  The  greatest  fault,  I  thought,  in  his  article  was  the  ab 
sence  of  any  allusion  whatever  to  that  book.  All  the  facts  he  got  from 
me  was  my  statement  to  him  that  the  book  was  substantially  correct  on 
all  matters  relating  to  my  life,  quite  as  much  so  as  if  I  were  to  go  over  the 
whole  of  it  with  him.  In  using  several  ideas  gathered  from  the  book, 
and  re-vamping  the  matter  in  his  own  words,  he  made  several  mistakes." 

Mr.  Stephens  goes  on  to  specify  a  number  of  errors  in  im 
portant  matters  of  fact,  ending  with  "  etc.,  etc." 

During  the  latter  part  of  May  Mr.  Stephens  was  gratified  by 
a  visit  from  his  nephew,  William  G.  Stephens,  in  company  with 
his  father-in-law,  Mr.  W.  W.  Simpson,  who  both  stood  very 
high  in  his  regard  ;  but  the  pleasure  was  dampened  by  the  too 
evident  signs  of  declining  health  in  William  G.  Stephens.  For 
this  young  man  his  uncle  felt  an  affection  approaching  that  which 
he  had  lavished  on  Linton.  Under  a  modest  exterior  he  had  a 
mind  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  much  original  humor, 
and  the  highest  sense  of  obligation  to  duty. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
Mr.  Stephens  made  a  visit  to  Mr.  Johnston,  which  was  to  be 
his  last.  He  was  very  feeble  in  health,  but  in  the  main  cheer 
ful.  For  some  time  before  the  meeting  of  the  Convention  to 
nominate  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  he  had  been  anxious 
that  General  Hancock  should  receive  the  nomination.  He  con 
sidered  that  of  all  the  military  men  in  the  country  General  Han 
cock  best  understood  the  constitutional  relations  of  the  civil  and 
military  powers.  He  was  therefore  much  gratified  with  the  re 
sult  at  Chicago  ;  but  soon  saw  cause  to  apprehend  that  the  leaders 


548  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

of  the  party  would  lose  by  injudicious  management  the  benefit 
of  a  good  nomination  Y  His  letters  are  .full  of  complaints  of  the 
dissensions  and  divisions  among  the  Democrats/ while  the  Re 
publicans  were  busy  healing  breaches  and  consolidating  their 
forces. 

In  the  fall  he  was  again  a  candidate,  and  there  being  no  op 
position  of  any  consequence,  he  was  returned  to  Congress.  On 
his  return  to  Washington  he  planned  a  special  Georgia  dinner 
for  Christmas,  and  it  proved  an  eminent  success.  Peculiar 
Georgia  dishes  graced  the  board,  and  the  host  calling  the  guests' 
attention  to  a  fine  opossum,  said,  "  Let  no  Georgian  go  back  on 
his  raising  to-day. "  The  company  enjoyed  the  meeting  to  the  full, 
and  jests  and  stories  were  told  in  the  quaint  Georgia  country- 
speech  that  gave  them  the  genuine  racy  home-flavor.  It  was  an 
occasion  to  be  long  remembered  by  all  who  participated  in  it. 

The  unusual  severity  of  the  following  winter  kept  him  much 
within-dooL's.  He  was  greatly  depressed  by  the  rapid  decline 
of  health  of  his  nephew  William,  who  died  on  the  first  of 
March . 

The  cold  winter  was  succeeded  by  a  hot  summer,  which  much 
debilitated  him ;  yet,  despite  all  drawbacks,  he  undertook  the 
task  of  writing  a  History  of  the  United  States,  at  which  he  worked, 
surrounded  by  six  or  eight  secretaries,  almost  without  intermis 
sion,  even  when  the  mercury  stood  at  100°  in  the  shade.  The 
attempt  on  President  Garfield's  life  was  a  most  painful  shock  to 
him,  and  he  shared  to  the  full  the  general  anxiety  and  grief. 

On  September  llth  he  writes  : 

"  The  weather  is  still  very  dry  and  hot.  I  think  the  thermometer  will 
nearly  reach  100°  to-day.  I  sent  off  about  half  my  MS.  last  week,  arid  hope 
to  get  it  all  off  by  the  first  of  November,  if  my  health  does  not  fail.  The 
book  is  a  big  one,  and  I  am  engaged  at  it  ten  hours  a  day,  sometimes 
more." 

We  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  mention  Mr.  Stephens's 
extreme  sensitiveness  to  changes  in  the^veather,  and  his  habit  of 
recording  them.  This  led  to  an  interest  in  all  meteorological  phe 
nomena  and  studies,  an  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  which, 
properly  belonging  to  an  earlier  date,  may  find  insertion  here. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  549 

In  the  winter  of  1853—54,  Mr.  James  P.  Espy,  author  of 
Philosophy  of  Storms,  and  then  a  subordinate  official  of  the 
War  Department,  was  a  boarder  in  the  same  house  with  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  became  much  interested  in  the  book,  and  in  Mr. 
Espy's  views  and  schemes,  in  which  he  thought  there  lay  the 
promise  of  great  usefulness.  Mr.  Espy's  plan  involved  the  trans 
mission  and  daily  publication  of  weather  reports  from  the  various 
stations,  and  for  this  he  was  unable  to  provide.  Mr.  Stephens 
prevailed  on  the  Washington  Intelligencer  and  Union  to  publish 
without  charge  a  daily  telegraphic  synopsis  of  the  reports,  which 
previously  had  been  published  only  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
utility  and  importance  of  these  were  soon  recognized,  and  thus 
the  foundation  was  laid  of  the  present  admirable  Signal  Service, 
the  value  of  which  to  the  country  and  the  world  can  never  be 
fully  estimated. 

The  following  winter  in  Washington  was  spent  by  Mr. 
Stephens  in  his  usual  way,  attending  with  punctuality  to  his 
various  duties  in  the  House,  and  in  looking  up  claims  which  in 
great  numbers  were  brought  before  him.  On  his  seventieth 
birthday,  February  llth,  1882,  he  gave  a  dinner  to  his  friends, 
followed  by  a  reception,  which  was  numerously  attended.  Miss 
C.  P.  Culver,  of  Washington,  presented  him  with  an  album,  on 
the  fly-leaf  of  which  were  written  the  following  original  verses  : 

"  Midwinter  is  not  always  cold  and  drear  : 
From  many  a  sheltered  nook  and  Southern  slope 
"Where  the  warm  light  of  heaven  is  cherished, 
Are  gathered  tufts  of  grass  and  fern  and  moss, 
Crocus,  and  snow-drops,  and  purple  violet, 
Which  scent  the  air,  and  bring  to  eye  and  heart 
Good  cheer  by  their  rare  loveliness. 
The  robin  and  the  oriole  full  oft 
Bide  in  their  native  haunts  the  live-long  year, 
And  chant,  defiant  of  King  Winter's  frown, 
From  cozy  perch  amid  the  piny  wood 
Their  wondrous  melodies. 

So  thou  : 

Spring's  short  and  fitful  and  capricious  hour, 
Summer's  hot  toil,  and  Autumn's  rich  ingathering; 
IIav;>  brought  thee  to  the  winter  of  thy  life  y 
Chastened  and  sore  disciplined,  forsooth,. 


550  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

Yet  all  unhardened  by  the  season's  changes, 

Thy  spirit,  strong  within,  has  caught  the  warmth 

Of  heaven,  and  holds  it  there. 

Thy  hopeful  nature,  and  thy  kindly  smile, 

Thy  willing  service  in  the  noble  cause 

Of  truth,  of  country,  and  humanity, 

Make  light  and  warmth,  music  and  summer  fragrance, 

Mid  thy  threescore  years  and  ten." 


The  numerous  callers  left  their  autographs  in  the  album,  to 
which  many  added  a  few  lines  expressive  of  their  feelings.  He 
was  greatly  gratified  by  this  spontaneous  tribute,  and  joining 
with  the  book  the  many  notes  and  letters  sent  by  friends  who 
could  not,  be  present,  consigned  the  whole  to  the  care  of  Mr. 
Johnston,  whom  he  detained  for  some  time  in  affectionate  talk 
after  the  guests  had  departed  and  he  had  retired  to  rest. 

Early  in  May,  while  descending  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  his 
crutch  slipped,  and  his  ankle  received  a  severe  sprain,  from 
which  he  never  entirely  recovered.  The  confinement  that  fol 
lowed  added  to  the  depression  of  spirits  which  lately  had  been 
growing  upon  him,  and  his  chief  consolation  was  found  in  the 
society  of  a  few  chosen  friends.  About  this  time  it  was  pro 
posed  to  reconcile  the  divisions  of  the  party  in«  Georgia  by 
bringing  him  forward  as  candidate  for  Governor.  He  was  wil 
ling  to  serve,  and,  indeed,  was  gratified  at  this  new  proof  of  the 
confidence  reposed  in  him.  A  place  in  the  Senate  he  had  often 
said  he  did  not  desire,  as  he  did  not  care  to  hold  any  office  that 
was  not  in  the  direct  gift  of  the  people.  Having  once  consented 
to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented,  he  put  forth  all  his  vigor  in 
the  contest  for  the  nomination.  His  competitor,  Mr.  Bacon, 
developed  unexpected  strength,  and  the  charge  was  brought 
against  Mr.  Stephens  of  being  in  some  degree  compromised  with 
the  Independents,  who  had  first  put  forward  his  name.  Having 
once  gone  so  far,  he  could  not  brook  a  failure ;  and  it  was  won 
derful  to  see  with  what  skill  and  judgment  he  arranged  the 
campaign  in  Georgia  from  his  sick-room — and  much  of  the  time 
from  his  bed — in  Washington.  When  the  day  of  the  nomina 
tion  was  approaching  he  had  himself  conveyed  to  Atlanta,  as 
he  confided  more  in  his  own  resources  than  in  those  of  all  his 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  551 

friends.  His  success  gratified  him,  but  less  than  might  be  sup 
posed.  He  was  often  haunted  by  the  premonition  that  his  end 
was  at  hand,  and  frequently  recurred  to  it  in  his  letters. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  leave  Washington,  Mr.  Johns 
ton,  as  usual,  went  over  to  bid  htm  good-by.  It  was  saddening 
to  witness  what  he  evidently  considered  his  final  leave-taking 
of  a  city  in  which  he  had  spent  so  much  of  his  public  life. 
There  was  more  gravity  than  usual  in  his  farewells  to  the  num 
bers  who  poured  in  to  take  his  hand,  even  to  the  servants  of 
the  hotel,  for  each  of  whom  he  had  a  friendly  word  and  a  little 
gift.  A  carriage  had  been  ordered  for  one  more  ride  with  his 
friend.  Slowly  he  drove  along  past  the  various  public  build 
ings,  at  which  he  sadly  gazed,  as  if  conscious  that  he  was  looking 
upon  them  for  the  last  time. 

"  Perhaps  you  will  come  here  again  as  Senator,"  his  friend 
suggested. 

"  Never,  never,"  he  answered,  "  My  days  are  nearly  over. 
This  may  be,  and  probably  is,  the  last  time  that  we  shall  ever 
see  each  other;  and  I  tell  you  solemnly  that  if  I  were  to  consult 
my  own  feelings,  I  should  prefer  to  be  beaten  in  this  race.  I 
have  consented  to  be  a  candidate  only  because  of  the  hope  of 
healing  the  wounds  in  the  Democratic  party  of  Georgia." 

When  he  arrived  at  the  station  he  was  carried  to  his  state 
room.  In  passing  through  the  anteroom  he  noticed  a  young 
dog  tied,  and  one  of  the  servants  remonstrating  with  its  owner, 
saying  that  there  was  no  room  for  the  animal.  Mr.  Stephens  at 
once  rested  on  his  crutches,  and  said,  sharply,  "Let  it  alone; 
there's  plenty  of  room  for  him.  We  can  take  care  of  him." 
Then,  turning  to  the  dog,  he  said,  "  Poor  fellow !  they  want  to 
turn  him  out,  do  they?  They  sha'n't  do  it!" 

Although  it  lacked  two  hours  to  the  starting  of  the  train, 
both  felt  it  best  that  their  parting  should  take  place  at  once, 
and  they  bade  each  other  farewell,  as  it  proved,  for  the  last 
time. 

On  his  return  he  made  a  brief  tour  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  speaking  at  various  places.  The  opposing  candidate  was 
General  Lucius  J.  Gartrell,  Independent  Democrat.  On  the 
12th  of  October  he  writes: 


552  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   II.   STEPHENS. 

"My  majority  turns  out  to  be  something  over  sixty  thousand.  Gartrell 
carries  only  six  counties.  This  is  certainly  a  triumph  signal  enough  for 
any  one  to  be  gratified  at,  if  not  proud  of.  I  assure  you,  however,  that  I 
have  none  of  the  feeling  of  pride  about  it,  and  quite  as  little  disposition 
to  exult  over  it.  The  sense  of  responsibility  resting  upon  me  greatly 
oppresses  me  with  its  weight.  I  have  about  ten  offices  to  fill,  and  already 
have  at  least  one  thousand  applications  for  them.  Think  of  that,  my  dear 
friend  !" 

Nor  was  it  much  better  when  these  applications  were  all  dis 
posed  of.  His  correspondence,  always  heavy,  grew  to  be  really 
oppressive.  On  January  3d  he  writes : 

"My  health  is  just  about  as  it  has  been.  I  usually  write  from  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  eight  o'clock  at  night,  pretty  constantly  engaged 
every  hour  in  the  day.  The  letters  I  have  to  answer  number  usually  daily 
from  twenty  to  forty.  The  number  to-day  is  about  forty.  But  when  Mr. 
Slidell  is  with  me  I  endeavor  to  clear  the  table  every  night." 

He  had  not  been  long  in  office  before  dissatisfaction  was  ex 
pressed  by  some  at  what  was  considered  his  excessive  liberality 
in  pardoning  offenders.  While  admitting  that  his  clemency  in 
this  respect  was  somewhat  unusual,  and  that  his  disposition  nat 
urally  inclined  him  to  err,  if  at  all,  on  the  side  of  mercy,  we 
submit  that,  before  censuring  him  for  this,  the  censor  should  be 
informed  of  the  circumstances  of  each  case  and  the  representa 
tions  that  were  laid  before  the  Governor.  It  should  also  be 
remembered  that  many  of  the  offenders  were  poor,  and  unable 
to  provide  themselves  with  counsel  who  were  at  all  a  match  for 
the  ability  exerted  on  behalf  of  the  prosecution.  Moreover,  the 
law  of  Georgia,  until  comparatively  recently,  was  very  severe, 
and  allotted  in  many  cases  terms  of  imprisonment  altogether 
disproportionate  to  the  offences.  This  was  afterwards  remedied 
by  the  Legislature;  but  of  those  pardoned  by  Mr.  Stephens 
many  had  been  sentenced  under  the  old  rigorous  laws,  and  had 
already  suffered  imprisonment  fully  as  long  as  would  now  be 
imposed  for  the  same  offences. 

On  this  subject  Mr.  Stephens  writes  on  December  4th,  "  I  care 
but  little  for  the  flings  made  at  me  about  pardons.  In  this  mat 
ter  I  shall  be  governed  by  my  own  sense  of  duty ;  not,  however, 
without  some  regret  when  I  shall  differ  from  good  friends."  He 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   11.  STEPHENS.  553 

then  goes  on  to  speak  of  an  application  for  the  commutation  of 
a  sentence  of  death,  in  which  he  thinks  of  acting  against  the 
protest  of  the  Solicitor-General  of  the  Eastern  Circuit : 

"  The  man  was  found  guilty  of  murder,  where  the  evidence,  as  reported 
to  me,  shows  no  previous  existing  grudge  or  quarrel.  In  my  judgment 
of  the  laws  of  Georgia  there  cannot  be  murder  without  malice  aforethought. 
My  present  intention,  therefore,  is  to  commute  his  sentence  to  life  impris 
onment;  but  I  have  written  for  a  copy  of  the  recorded  evidence  before  I 
act." 

On  January  3d  he  writes : 

''We  are  getting  along  very  well  at  the  executive  mansion.  We  gave 
a  reception  on  New  Year's  day.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  Governor 
ever  gave  a  New  Year's  reception  in  the  day,  or,  I  believe,  at  any  hour. 
The  custom  in  Atlanta  is  for  ladies  to  give  receptions  at  night  on  New 
Year.  The  example  set  at  the  mansion  was  said  to  be  a  rather  unexpected 
success." 

The  last  letter  received  from  him  was  dated  February  2d, 
and  gave  an  account  of  a  visit  from  Mr.  Samuel  Lumpkin,  Mr. 
J.  T.  Olin,  and  Colonel  Mark  Johnston,  with  warm  expressions 
of  the  pleasure  this  reunion  had  given  him. 

His  last  public  appearance  was  at  the  Sesqui-centennial  cele 
bration  in  Savannah  on  February  1 2th.  This  was  the  most 
imposing  pageant  that  had  ever  been  in  the  State,  and  drew 
thousands  from  far  and  near.  The  aged  statesman,  seated  in 
his  chair,  reviewed  the  past,  the  humble  beginnings  of  a  great 
State.  When  he  had  spoken,  his  hearers  crowded  round  to 
touch  his  withered  hand  in  reverent  affection.  He  enjoyed  the 
scene  greatly,  but  the  exposure  to  inclement  weather  did  fatal 
harm  to  one  who  was  already  much  exhausted.  On  returning 
to  Atlanta,  he  betook  himself  at  once  to  his  bed,  evidently  fore 
seeing  that  he  should  rise  from  it  no  more.  The  strange  hold, 
apparently  so  slight,  and  yet  so  tenacious,  that  he  had  on  life, 
that  had  held  through  seventy-one  years  of  uninterrupted  sick 
ness,  was  loosened  at  last.  He  sank  gently  away ;  so  quietly 
that  the  watchers  by  his  bed  did  not  notice  his  departure.  His 
death  occurred  on  March  4th,  1883. 

Rarely,  if  ever,  has  such  a  funeral  been  seen  in  this  country. 
From  seventy-five  to  eighty  thousand  persons  were  in  attend- 


554  LIFE   OF  ALXANDER  H.   STEPHENS. 

ance,  of  whom  many  thousands  came  to  the  city  for  that  pur 
pose  alone.  The  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev. 
John  Jones,  and  many  of  the  leading  orators  of  the  South  gave 
eloquent  expression  to  their  universal  sorrow  and  sense  of  a 
great  loss.  Perhaps  the  most  touching  tribute  was  that  of  his 
life-long  friend,  General  Toombs :  "I  come  only  to  bring  my 
tears."  No  similar  death  has  called  forth  more  general  and  sin 
cere  grief;  for  of  all  the  men  whom  the  South  in  this  century 
lias  produced,  he  was  the  most  widely  known  and  beloved.  Far- 
distant  cities  displayed  the  ensigns  of  mourning,  with  lowered 
flag  and  tolling  bells,  and  the  whole  land  lamented  that  a  chief 
of  the  people  had  fallen. 

The  life  of  Alexander  Hamilton  Stephens  has  now  been 
recorded  in  the  way  he  himself  desired.  From  the  many  mis 
representations  that  were  put  forth  during  his  life,  he  foresaw 
that,  after  his  death,  whether  by  malevolence  or  well-meaning 
officiousness,  these  would  be  greatly  increased.  To  prevent  this, 
he  empowered  his  present  biographers  to  undertake  the  task ; 
and  furnished  them  with  all  necessary  material,  in  addition  to 
what  one  of  them  had  collected  during  an  intimacy  of  thirty 
years.  They  have,  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  performed 
with  faithfulness  the  work  intrusted  to  them ;  and  every  word, 
with  the  exception  of  this  last  chapter,  has  been  read  by  him, 
and  has  received  his  sanction  and  approval. 

Our  object  has  been  not  merely  to  recount  the  incidents  of 
his  life,  but  to  show  from  his  own  words  and  confidences  the 
workings  of  his  thought  and  the  inmost  feelings  of  his  heart; 
and  if  his  character,  in  its  weakness  as  well  as  its  strength,  has 
not  unfolded  itself  in  our  pages,  then  have  we  failed  in  our 
undertaking. 

Some  points,  however,  may  now  be  touched  which  it  would 
not  have  been  fitting  to  submit  to  his  judgment,  or  to  speak  of 
during  his  life. 

We  have  already  shown  how  the  consciousness  of  those  mani 
fold  physical  infirmities  which  handicapped  him  so  heavily  in 
the  race  with  his  fellows  tended  at  one  time  to  beget  in  him  a 
spirit  of  bitter  misanthropy,  from  which  his  spirit  recoiling. 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  555 

rushed  to  a  boundless  sympathy  and  charity  for  his  fellow-men. 
This  sentiment  at  last  became  a  passion  with  him  that  often 
clouded  his  judgment.  The  sight  or  knowledge  of  suffering  and 
distress  was  so  intolerable  to  him  that  he  neither  considered  the 
character  of  the  sufferer  nor  the  causes  of  its  infliction  if  it  was 
in  his  power  to  help.  If  his  labor  was  needed,  it  was  given 
without  stint ;  if  money,  as  long  as  he  had  anything  to  give.  In 
gratitude  made  no  difference  to  him, — he  was  used  to  that  all 
his  life, — the  ingrate  had  only  to  return  with  a  fresh  plea  to  be 
relieved  again.  Hence  some  who  deserved  help  forbore  to  apply, 
knowing  the  incessant  drain  upon  him  ;  while  frontless  impostors 
and  undeservers  of  all  kinds  and  classes  fastened  on  him  with 
the  voracity  and  tenacity  of  leeches.  Linton  once  said,  with 
mingled  sadness  and  indignation,  "  Brother  is  like  a  ship  other 
wise  stanch,  but  eaten  up  by  barnacles  that  he  cannot  dislodge." 
The  detection  of  deceit,  mean  selfishness,  actual  injury  to  him 
self,  did  not  move  him  ;  it  seemed  that  he  had  the  power  to  par 
don  wrongs  as  oft  as  any  man  had  power  to  wrong  him.  Cases 
of  unusual  flagrancy  sometimes  called  up  a  transient  flash  of  in 
dignation ;  but  it  vanished  at  the  first  intimation  of  regret  on 
the  part  of  the  offender,  who  knew  that,  after  forgiveness,  his 
hand  was,  if  possible,  more  open  than  ever. 

Linton  keenly  judged  his  character  when  he  said,  "  As  a 
judge  of  mankind  in  the  aggregate,  brother  sometimes  seems  to 
me  almost  infallible.  He  can  foresee  what  the  multitude  will 
do.  But  as  to  individuals,  I  do  not  know  any  one  who  can  be 
so  deceived  and  put  upon." 

We  might  illustrate  this  by  many  shameful  instances  of  in 
gratitude  and  treachery;  but  as  we  have  no  wish  to  arouse  in  the 
reader's  mind  the  feelings  they  would  naturally  call  up,  we  prefer 
to  cite  an  incident  rather  ludicrous  than  serious. 

One  day,  R.  M.  J.,  on  entering  his  rooms,  heard  him  sav, 
with  a  kind  of  plaintive  peevishness,  "I  tell  you  I.  haven't  got 
it  in  my  pocket  nor  in  bank  !" 

When  the  applicant  had  gone  his  visitor  said, — 

"  Run  out,  have  you  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,  except  thirty  cents;  and  the  man  doesn't  live  that 
can  get  that !" 


556  LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS. 

He  then  went  on,  with  the  most  comic  blending  of  irritation 
and  a  sense  of  the  ludicrousness  of  the  whole  matter,  to  tell  the 
following  story : 

u  There  came  a  fellow  here  a  week  ago,  professing  to  be  an 
agent  for  Davis's  History.  I  told  him  I  had  already  subscribed 
to  at  least  a  dozen,  and  had  been  worried  that  none  of  the  agents 
brought  me  the  book.  He  said  that  if  he  could  get  six  dollars 
he  could  get  the  book,  and  would  bring  it  to  me  the  next  morn 
ing.  I  told  him  that  I  had  but  three  dollars  and  thirty  cents 
to  my  name.  Then  he  said  he  thought  he  could  make  out  with 
that.  I  told  him  that  I'd  let  him  have  the  three  dollars,  but  I 
must  keep  the  thirty  cents.  He  took  the  three  dollars  and 
started  to  go.  At  the  door  he  paused,  came  back,  and  said,  if 
I  could  spare  it,  he  would  like  to  have  the  thirty  cents  too.  But 
I  was  firm  as  a  rock  on  the  thirty  cents.77 

"  He  brought  you  the  book  ?7' 

"No!77  he  exclaimed,  with  a  laugh  like  that  of  an  amused 
.child;  "I  never  heard  of  him  any  more.77 

"  I  am  glad  at  least  that  you  were  able  to  hold  on  to  your 
thirty  cents.77 

"  So  am  I.     I  wouldn't  let  him  put  me  entirely  out  of  seed.77 

And  he  chuckled  with  self-satisfaction  at  this  proof  of  his 
firmness  and  sagacious  providence. 

The  hospitality  of  Liberty  Hall  was  of  an  extraordinary  kind. 
People  of  all  sorts,  ages,  and  colors;  friends,  acquaintances, 
strangers,  enemies,  came  whenever  they  pleased  and  remained  as 
long  as  they  pleased.  The  hours  of  his  meals  were  arranged  to 
suit  the  trains.  In  1875,  R.  M.  J.  found  him  with  his  dinner- 
hour  fixed  at  half-past  eleven,  to  give  guests,  that  came  only  for 
that  purpose,  time  to  dine  between  the  coming  and  departing 
trains.  When  the  night-train  passed  Crawford ville  before  day 
break  it  usually  brought  visitors,  who  were  let  in  by  Harry  and 
put  to  bed  for  a  nap ;  and  the  host  only  knew  of  their  arrival 
by  seeing  them  at  the  breakfast-table.  Every  visitor  was  ex 
pected  to  take  at  least  one  meal.  When  remonstrated  with  by 
friends  for  thus  turning  his  house  into  a  caravanserai  for  the 
sake  of  swarms  who  had  no  claim  whatever  upon  him,  whom  he 


LIFE   OF  ALEXANDER   H.  STEPHENS.  557 

did  not  even  know,  he  would  say,  "  Oh,  it  takes  only  a  little 
more  meat  and  bread,  and  everybody  must  eat." 

For  the  stewardship  of  this  lavish  hospitality  he  relied  mainly 
upon  Harry ;  and  Mr.  Stephens  had  a  heavy  blow  in  the  death 
of  that  faithful  servant  and  friend. 

Regarding  the  religious  views  of  Mr.  Stephens,  we  have  little 
to  add  beyond  what  has  appeared  in  former  pages.  They  seem 
never  to  have  been  very  clearly  defined  even  to  himself,  and 
neither  his  brother  nor  his  most  intimate  friend  could  ever  draw 
from  him  a  distinct  statement  of  them.  His  last  attendance 
upon  public  worship  in  Washington  was  when  Bishop  Gross, 
of  Savannah,  preached  at  the  Church  of  St.  Dominic.  The 
bishop  was  a  most  valued  friend,  and  after  dinner  Mr.  Stephens 
spoke  warmly  in  his  praise,  and  adverted  to  his  eminent  services 
to  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  Georgia,  saying  that  in  his  opinion 
Bishop  Gross  and  Bishop  Pierce  (of  the  Methodist  Church)  were 
the  two  most  useful  men  in  the  State. 

For  more  than  fifty  years  he  had  contemplated  death  as  likely 
to  come  at  any  hour.  He  made  no  profession  of  philosophic 
indifference  to  death,  and  whenever  it  seemed  at  hand  he  was 
gratified  to  be  told  that  prayers  were  offered  up  for  him.  He 
has  been  heard  to  say  in  reference  to  his  living,  "  I  want  all  the 
chances  I  can  get."  He  carried  with  him  the  consolation  that, 
as  far  as  human  frailty  would  allow,  he  had  been  no  unfaithful 
steward  of  the  talent  intrusted  to  him  by  the  Master,  and  that 
whatever  he  had  done,  or  tried  to  do,  had  been  in  the  fear  of 
God. 

His  last  official  act  was  in  harmony  with  his  life,  and  proba 
bly  such  as  he  would  himself  have  chosen.  It  was  to  grant  a 
petition  for  mercy.  A  fitting  end  for  him. 


APPENDIX    A. 


SPEECH  ON  NEBKASKA  AND  KANSAS. 

Delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  17th,  1854- 
The  House  being  in  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union. 

I  WAS  very  anxious  day  before  yesterday,  Mr.  Chairman,  when  the  gen 
tleman  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Meacham],  and  the  gentleman  from  New  York, 
upon  my  left  [Mr.  Fenton],  addressed  the  House  upon  the  subject  of  the 
Nebraska  Bill,  to  make  some  remarks  upon  the  same  subject  in  reply  to 
them.  I  desired  to  do  so  at  the  time,  but  the  opportunity  was  not  afforded 
me.  And  though  I  have  lost  some  of  the  ardor  of  feeling  which  the  occa 
sion  then  excited,  yet  I  think  it  important  that  these  positions  should  be 
answered,  and  it  is  for  that  purpose  that  I  rise  to  address  the  Committee 
to-day.  I  assure  you  I  shall  be  as  brief  as  possible. 

The  gentleman  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Meacham],  if  I  understood  the  train 
of  his  argument,  opposed  the  Nebraska  Bill,  as  presented  to  the  House, 
mainly  upon  the  ground  that  it  declares  the  eighth  section  of  the  act  of 
1820,  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  as  a  State, 
inoperative,  because  it  is  inconsistent  wTith  the  principles  of  the  acts  of 
1850,  known  as  the  Compromise  of  that  year.  This  eighth  section  of  the 
act  of  1820  is  that  clause  which,  without  any  relation  to  the  State  of 
Missouri,  prohibits  slavery  forever  from  all  that  part  of  the  territory 
acquired  by  the  Louisiana  cession  outside  of  Missouri  north  of  36°  30' 
north  latitude.  The  argument  of  the  gentleman  consisted  of  the  following 
series  of  assumptions : 

f      First.  That  that  restriction  or  prohibition  was  in  the  nature  of  a  com 
pact,  or  contract,  as  he  called  it. 

Secondly.  That  it  had  been  continuously  adhered  to  from  that  time  to 
this. 

Thirdly.  That  the  measure  now  proposed  would  be  a,  violation  of  that 
compact. 

Fourthly.  That  this  breach  of  good  faith  would  be  attended  with  disas 
trous  consequences  to  the  peace,  quiet,  and  repose  of  the  country. 

This,  sir,  was  the  outline  of  his  argument.  Now  I  propose  to  take  up 
these  positions,  and  show  to  the  House,  if  not  to  the  gentleman  himself, 
that  in  every  particle  they  are  untenable. 

In  the  first  place,  I  state  that  that  eighth  clause  of  the  act  preparatory 
to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  restricting  slavery  north  of 

"559 


560 


APPENDIX. 


36°  30',  never  was  a  compact.  It  never  had  any  of  the  requisites  or  char 
acteristics  of  a  compact.  A  compact  between  whom?  Between  the  North 
and  South  ? 

MR.  MEACHAM. — I  used  the  word  "  contract,"  not  "  compact." 
MR.  STEPHEXS. — The  gentleman  from  Vermont  used  the  word  "  con 
tract,"  as  I  said,  but  others  have  used  the  word  "compact,"  and,  in  this 
connection,  they  both  mean  about  the  same  thing.  But  what  I  was  about 
to  affirm  is,  that  that  "great  Missouri  Compromise"  which  Mr.  Clay  pro 
posed,  and  with  which  his  fame  is  identified,  had  nothing  to  do  with  this 
restrictive  clause  of  the  act  of  1820.  That  compromise  [Mr.  Clay's]  was 
in  the  nature  of  a  "compact."  It  was  a  "compact"  between  the  General 
Government  and  the  State  of  Missouri.  I  am  aware  that  the  general 
opinion  on  this  subject  is  very  erroneous.  This  Mr.  Clay  fully  explained 
in  1850.  The  common  idea  is,  that  Mr.  Clay  was  the  author  of  the  pro 
hibition  of  slavery  north  of  36°  30'.  But  such  is  not  the  fact.  He  did 
not  even  vote  for  it.  That  proposition  came  from  a  gentleman  from 
Illinois.  The  compromise  that  Mr.  Clay  offered  was  afterwards.  Its  his 
tory  is  this:  The  people  of  Missouri,  under  the  act  of  6th  March,  1820, 
went  on  and  formed  a  State  constitution,  which  contained  a  clause  author 
izing  the  Legislature  to  pass  a  law  to  prevent  the  immigration  of  free 
negroes ;  and  when  application  was  made  for  admission  as  a  State  into 
the  Union,  Congress  refused  the  admission,  unless  that  clause  should  be 
expunged.  It  was  then  that  Mr.  Clay  brought  forward  his  measure. 
Here  it  is : 

"  RESOLUTION  PROVIDING    FOR    THE    ADMISSION   OF  MISSOURI    INTO    THE  UNION 

ON    A    CERTAIN    CONDITION. 

"  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  Missouri  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States,  in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the  fundamental  con 
dition  that  the  fourth  clause  of  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  the  third  article  of  the 
Constitution,  submitted  on  the  part  of  the  said  State  to  Congress,  shall  never  be  con 
strued  to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  law,  and  that  no  law  shall  be  passed  in  con 
formity  thereto,  by  which  any  citizen  of  either  of  the  States  in  this  Union  shall  be 
excluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  any  of  the  privileges  find  immunities  to  which  such 
citizen  is  entitled  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States:  Provided,  That  the 
Legislature  of  the  said  State,  by  solemn  public  act,  shall  declare  the  assent  of  the 
said  State  to  the  said  fundamental  condition,  and  transmit  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  on  or  before  the  fourth  Monday  in  November  next,  an  authentic  copy 
of  the  said  act;  upon  the  receipt  whereof  the  President,  by  proclamation,  shall 
announce  the  fact;  whereupon,  and  without  any  further  proceeding  on  the  part  of 
Congress,  the  admission  of  the  said  State  into  this  Union  shall  be  considered  as 
complete.  *  "Jonx  W.  TAYLOR, 

"  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"JOHN  GAILLARD, 

"  President  of  the  Senate,  pro  tempore. 
"Approved  March  2d,  1821. 

"JAMES  MONROE." 


APPENDIX. 

This  proposition,  when  submitted  to  the  people  of  Missouri,  and  acceded 
to  by  them,  as  it  was,  may  very  properly  be  called  a  "compact."  For 
there  were  parties  to  it, — the  General  Government  on  one  side,  and  the 
people  of  Missouri  on  the  other, — both  agreeing  to  it.  But  not  so  with 
the  eighth  section  of  the  act  referred  to, — there  were  no  such  parties  to 
it, — that  was  nothing  but  a  law,  with  no  greater  sanction  than  any  othei 
statute  that  may  give  place  to  subsequent  legislation.  There  was  no 
compact  about  it.  Missouri  never  gave  her  sanction  to  it.  She  could 
not  have  been  any  party  to  it.  She  had  no  right  to  the  territory  outside 
of  her  limits.  She  had  no  power  or  authority  to  make  any  compact 
concerning  it. 

But  the  gentleman  argued  as  if  he  considered  this  eighth  section  of  the 
act  of  1820,  fixing  the  line  of  36°  30X,  north  of  which  slavery  should  be 
forever  excluded,  and  which  is  commonly  called  the  "Missouri  Compromise 
line,"  as  a  contract  between  the  North  and  South,  as  the  parties.  How. 
then,  stand  the  facts  upon  this  point  of  view?  How  did  this  eighth  sec 
tion  get  into  the  bill  of  1820?  It  was  in  this  way, — the  North  insisted 
upon  a  restriction  against  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  State,  which 
required  her  to  abolish  slavery  within  her  limits,  as  a  condition  precedent 
to  her  admission, — the  House  passed  a  bill  with  such  restriction, — to  which 
the  South  were  in  mass  opposed.  In  the  Senate,  on  motion  by  Mr.  Thomas, 
of  Illinois,  that  clause  containing  a  restriction  on  the  State  was  stricken 
out,  and  this  eighth  section  inserted  in  lieu  of  it.  The  South  in  mass 
were  opposed  to  the  State  restriction,  as  I  have  said;  but  manyof  her 
members — a  majority  of  two,  I  believe — voted  for  the  substitute  as  the 
lesser  evil  of  the  two.  In  this  way  the  substitute  was  carried  as  an 
amendment  tp  the  bill.  This  amendment  was  agreed  to  in  the  House  by 
a  vote  of  134  to  42.  Among  these  42  noes  are  to  be  found  the  names  of 
several  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  South.  In  this  way  this  line 
of  36°  30'  was  incorporated  in  the  bill  of  1820,  preparatory  to  the  admis 
sion  of  Missouri  as  a  State.  And  to  this  extent,  and  no  other,  can  it  be 
called  a  compromise,  a  contract,  or  compact.  It  was  literally  forced  upon 
the  South  as  a  disagreeable  alternative,  by  superior  numbers,  and  in  this 
way  went  upon  your  statute  book  as  any  other  law  passed  by  a  majority 
of  votes.  So  much,  then,  sir,  for  this  "compact"  or  contract.  Now  let 
us  see,  in  the  second  place,  how  it  has  been  fulfilled  or  adhered  to  from 
that  day  to  this. 

The  gentleman  says  it  shas  been  acquiesced  in  and  conformed  to  for 
thirty  years ;  and  he  asks,  with  much  solemnity,  if  we  are  now  about  to 
violate  and  abrogate  it?  I  have  shown,  sir,  that  the  South  was  in  no 
sense  a  party  to  this  Congressional  restriction  north  of  36°  30'j  except  as 
a  vanquished  party,  being  out-voted  on  the  direct  question  ;  protesting 
against  it  with  all  her  might  and  power.  Yet,  sir,  notwithstanding  this, 
and  notwithstanding  a  large  majority  of  her  people  from  that  day  to  this, 
as  I  think  I  may  safely  affirm,  have  held  that  clause  of  the  Missouri  act 

36 


562  APPENDIX. 

to  be  unconstitutional,  as  it  was  based  upon  the  principle  of  a  division  of 
the  common  territory  between  the  free  States  and  slave  States  of  the 
Union,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony,  the  South  did  patriotically 
yield,  and  was  willing  for  all  time  to  come  to  abide  by  it.  I  say  was, 
because  of  this  "  Missouri  Compromise,"  and  the  principles  upon  which 
it  was  founded,  it  may  n'ow  be  said  "  Ilium  fuit" 

The  issue  I  make  with  the  gentleman  upon  this  branch  of  his  speech  is, 
that  this  agreement  or  contract,  as  he  argued  it,  between  the  North  and 
the  South  as  to  the  line  of  division  between  slave  territory  and  free  terri 
tory,  has  not  remained  undisturbed  and  inviolate  for  thirty  years,  as  he 
affirms.  It  has  been  shamelessly  disregarded  by  Congress  repeatedly,  and 
in  principle  was  entirely  superseded,  as  I  shall  show,  by  the  principles 
established  by  your  legislation  in  1850. 

But  as  much  as  the  arrangement  was  originally  obnoxious  to  the  South, 
the  charge  of  violation  of  it  cannot  justly  be  made  against  her.  No,  sir; 
no,  sir  ;  it  was  the  North  that  refused  to  abide  by  her  own  bargain.  This 
I  affirm.  Now  let  us  see  how  the  record  stands  upon  the  subject.  The 
first  time  that  this  question  came  up  afterwards,  was  within  twelve  months 
from  the  date  of  the  act  itself  and  before  the  same  Congress.  It  came  up 
on  the  application  of  Missouri  for  admission,  in  pursuance  of  the  pro 
visions  of  the  very  act  that  contains  the  "covenant."  She  had  formed  a 
State  constitution  in  pursuance  of  it  5  she  had  violated  none  of  its  condi 
tions.-  The  whole  South  were  for  letting  her  be  admitted,  and  the  entire 
North,  nearly,  were  against  it.  Here  is  the  vote  rejecting  her  admission, — 
the  vote  was  79  for  it  and  93  against  it, — the  North  in  mass,  almost, 
against  it.  Why  was  this  refusal?  If  they  recognized  the  provisions  of 
the  act  of  March  precedh  3  as  containing  any  section  binding  upon  them 
in  the  nature  of  a  "contract"  or  "compact,"  why  did  they  refuse  to  fulfil 
it?  The  pretext  assigned  was,  that  the  constitution  of  Missouri  contained 
a  clause  empowering  the  Legislature  to  pass  a  law  to  prevent  the  introduc 
tion  of  free  persons  of  color,  as  I  have  stated.  But  this  could  have  been 
nothing  but  a  pretext,  for  at  that  very  day  Massachusetts  had  a  similar 
law  in  actual  force  upon  her  statute  book.  The  truth  is,  the  North  at 
that  early  day  showed  that  she  did  not  regard  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
1820  as  at  all  obligatory  upon  them  as  any  thing  like  a  compact.  The  real 
objection  to  the  final  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  State  was,  that  slavery 
was  tolerated  within  her  limits  by  her  constitution.  It  was  the  old  ques 
tion  which  gave  trouble  before  this  "  contract"  of  1820  was  made.  It  was 
then  that  Mr.  Clay's  compromise  was  adopted.  Twelve  months,  therefore, 
had  not  passed  before  the  North  repudiated  this  compact  by  refusing 
Missouri  admission  without  another  compromise. 

"Well,  the  next  time  this  question  arose  was  on  the  admission  of  Arkansas 
into  the  Union  in  183G.  This  State  wras  formed  out  of  a  part  of  the  Louis 
iana  purchase  south  of  36°  30'.  By  the  terms  of  the  Missouri  "  contract," 
the  gentleman  from  Vermont  admits  that  she  was  to  come  in  as  a  slave 


APPENDIX.  563 

State.  Did  the  North  then  so  recognize  and  act  upon  these  terms?  The 
gentleman  from  New  York  [Mr.  Fenton]  said  that  this  division  line  had 
been  approved  by  the  North  for  thirty  years.  If  so,  I  ask  him  when  or 
where?  Did  they  raise  no  objection  when  Arkansas  applied  for  admis 
sion  ?  Let  us  see  ;  here  is  the  record. 

Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  this  House,  June  13th,  1836,  moved  an 
amendment  so  as  to  make  a  section  of  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  that 
State  read  thus : 

"And  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  as  an  assent  by  Congress 
to  the  article  in  the  Conntitution  of  the  said  State  relating  to  slat-cry  and  to  the  eman 
cipation  of  slaves,'"  etc. 

"  Still  harping  on  my  daughter." 

On  a  vote,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  allow  this  amendment,  there  were 
80  in  favor  of  affording  the  opportunity.  There  were  109  on  the  opposite 
side,  which  prevented  its  being  offered.  Of  these  80  votes,  some  were 
from  the  South.  The  object  may  have  been  to  get  a  vote  upon  this  dis 
tinct  question  of  the  recognition  by  the  House  of  the  line  established  in 
1820.  But  after  the  amendment  was  ruled  out  on  the  direct  vote  for  the 
admission  of  Arkansas  with  a  constitution  tolerating  slavery,  though  she 
was  south  of  36°  30',  there  are  52  names  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Adams  in 
the  negative, — every  one  of  them,  I  believe,  from  the  North, — I  have  the 
journal  before  me.  And  among  these  names  I  see  Ileman  Allen,  Horace 
Everett,  Ililand  Hall,  Henry  F.  Jones,  and  William  Slade.  The  entire 
delegation  from  Vermont,  and  the  gentleman's  [Mr.  Meacham's]  own  pre 
decessor  upon  this  floor,  or  he  who  then  represented  a  portion  of  the  same 
constituency  that  that  gentleman  now  does,  recorded  his  vote  against  the 
admission  of  Arkansas,  Did  he  or  his  colleagues  have  any  other  objection 
to  it  except  that  it  was  a  slave  State?  If  they  regarded  the  line  of  36°  30' 
as  a  solemn  covenant  between  the  North  and  South,  why  did  they  not  give 
it  their  sanction  at  that  time? 

The  gentleman  spoke  of  "  honor," — 

"  I  thank  thee,  Jew,  for  teaching  me  that  word." 

Where  was  the  "honor"  of  the  representatives  of  Vermont  on  that  oc 
casion?  In  whose  keeping  was  it  placed?  I  suppose  in  the  hands  of  their 
constituents,  of  whom  the  gentleman  was  one.  The  representatives  from 
the  gentleman's  own  State  did  then  unanimously — most  dishonorably,  if 
he  chooses  so  to  characterize  their  conduct — repudiate  that  "  contract" 
which  the  South  never  offered  to  disturb  until  it  was  totally  abandoned  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  at  the  North,  as  I  shall  presently  show.  I 
have  shown  that  it  was  disregarded  within  twelve  months  after  it  was 
made,  and  refused  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  representatives  of  the  gentle 
man's  own  State  in  1836,  the  first  time  it  came  up  again. 

The  next  time  anything  was  said  in  our  legislation  about  the  u  Missouri 


564  APPENDIX. 

line  of  36°  30/,"  was  on  the  annexation  of  Texas.  That  measure  was 
carried  with  that  line  in  it,  but  not  by  Northern  votes.  It  was  the 
South,  still  willing  to  abide  it,  that  carried  it  then.  There  were  125 
Northern  votes  given  on  that  occasion.  Of  these,  only  51  were  for  the 
annexation  with  this  line  established  in  it;  while  there  were  74 — a 
large  majority, — who  refused  to  give  it  their  sanction.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  all  who  voted  against  that  measure  were  opposed  to  that 
line  of  settlement.  Many  of  them  had  other  reasons.  And  I  know 
full  well,  for  I  was  here,  that  of  those  51  Northern  men  who  voted  for 
it,  many  of  them  would  not  have  voted  for  the  recognition  of  that  line 
if  the  question  had  come  up  by  itself.  But  those  resolutions  of  annexa 
tion  were  so  presented  that  they  had  to  be  taken  as  a  whole  or  not  at 
all.  I  allude  to  this  vote  merely  because  it  was  the  next  time  in  order 
when  the  question  came  up,  and  the  vote  certainly  fails  to  show  that  the 
North,  or  even  a  majority  of  them,  gave  it  their  sanction.  For  that  reason 
only  I  allude  to  it. 

I  come  down  now  to  another  step  of  vour  progress, — to  the  period  from 
the  year  1847  to  1850.  The  gentleman  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Meacham]  had 
a  map  for  illustration,  which  he  exhibited  to  us.  He  pointed  out  to  us  the 
boundary  of  the  Louisiana  purchase.  It  commenced  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Sabine,  ran  up  that  river  to  the  32°  of  north  latitude ;  thence  due  north  to 
the  Red  River ;  thence  up  that  river  to  the  100°  of  west  longitude  from 
Greenwich  ;  thence  due  north  to  the  Arkansas  River,  and  up  that  river  to 
the  42°  of  north  latitude;  and  thence  due  west  to  the  South  Seas  or  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  By  this  map,  and  his  demonstrations  from  it,  it  appears 
that  we  had  a  title  ceded  to  us  from  France  to  territory  extending  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Well,  that  of  course  included  Oregon, — that  is,  according 
to  the  gentleman's  map,  we  derived  title  to  Oregon  under  the  cession  from 
France  in  1803,  and  that  Territory  was  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase. 
Mr.  Jefferson  so  considered  it,  and  sent  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  explore  the 
country. 

Well,  then,  how  did  the  South  act  towards  this  "solemn  compact"  as  it 
is  now  called, — the  line  of  36°  30', — when  we  came  to  organize  a  Territorial 
government  for  Oregon  in  1847?  The  southern  boundary  was  the  42°  of 
north  latitude,  and  of  course  the  whole  of  it  lay  north  of  36°  30'.  At 
this  time  (in  1847)  we  were  in  a  war  with  Mexico,  and  it  was  well  under 
stood  to  be  the  policy  of  the  Administration  to  acquire  territory  from  that 
Government,  Avhich,  in  all  probability,  would  to  some  extent  be  south  of 
the  line  36°  30'.  From  the  votes  of  the  House  upon  what  was  well  known 
as  the  "Wilmot  Proviso,"  the  South  had  just  reasons  to  apprehend  that 
it  was  the  fixed  determination  of  a  majority  of  the  North  to  disregard, 
entirely  what  is  now  called  the  "sacred  covenant  of  1820."  When,  there 
fore,  the  bill  to  organize  a  Territorial  government  for  Oregon  came  up  in 
this  House  on  the  15th  of  January,  1847,  Mr.  Burt,  of  South  Carolina,  to 
take  the  sense  of  the  North  directly  upon  the  question  of  abiding  by  this 


APPENDIX.  565 

line  of  36°  30',  moved  as  an  amendment  to  that  clause  in  the  bill  which 
excluded  slavery  forever  from  the  Territory,  these  words: 

..."  inasmuch  as  the  whole  of  said  Territory  lies  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude, 
known  as  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise." 

The  object  of  this  amendment  was  to  put  a  direct  test  to  the  North  whether 
they  intended  to  recognize  the  principle  upon  which  the  controversy  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  was  disposed  of  in  1820  or  not. 
Sir,  the  North  understood  the  question  fully  and  clearly,  and  they  met  it 
promptly, — their  response  was  that  they  did  not.  Here  is  the  vote  upon 
this  question  :  there  were  in  this  House  then  82  votes  for  Mr.  Burt's  amend 
ment,  and  113  against  it !  Of  these  noes,  every  man  was  from  the  North. 
Every  Southern  man  in  the  House  voted  for  it.  And  of  the  82  who  voted 
to  adhere  to  the  principle  of  that  adjustment,  not  as  something  too  sacred 
to  be  touched,  but  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  quiet,  there  were  I  believe  but 
six  from  the  whole  North, — they  were  Douglas  and  Robert  Smith,  from 
Illinois  ;  Cunningham  and  Parish,  from  Ohio ;  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Hastings,  of  Iowa.  Every  man  from  Vermont  and 
New  York  voted  against  it. 

In  the  face  of  this  record,  the  gentleman  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Meacham] 
and  the  gentleman  from  New  York  [Mr.  Fenton],  in  their  places  upon  this 
floor,  two  days  ago,  declared  that  this  "Missouri  Compromise"  had  met 
the  approval  of  the  North  for  thirty  years.  The  South,  in  this  instance, 
proposed  it  unanimously  as  a  "  peace-offering,"  and  it  was  almost  as  unani 
mously  rejected  by  the  North.  "Honor,"  I  think,  the  gentleman  said. 
They  rejected  it  over  territory  to  which  we  derived  title  by  the  very  ces 
sion  alluded  to  in  the  act  of  1820.  And  so  thoroughly  opposed  were 
they  to  giving  it  their  approval,  and  so  bent  upon  its  total  abrogation, 
that  they  refused  to  affirm  the  principle  when  they  got  all  by  the  affirma 
tion.  u  Honor  P*  indeed!  But,  sir,  to  proceed.  This  bill  was  defeated  in 
the  Senate,  I  believe.  It  did  not  become  a  law.  The  question  came  up 
again  in  1848.  Another  bill  was  brought  forward  to  establish  a  Territorial 
government  for  Oregon.  The  Senate  put  in  the  following  amendment: 

"  That  the  line  of  36°  30'  of  north  latitude,  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line,  as  defined  by  the  eighth  section  of  an  act  entitled  'An  act  to  authorize  the 
people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  constitution  and  State  government,  and 
for  the  admission  of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States,  and  to  prohibit  slavery  in  certain  Territories,'  approved  March  6,  1820,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  declared  to  extend  to  the  Pacific  Ocean;  and  the  said  eighth 
section,  together  with  the  compromise  therein  effected,  is  hereby  revived  and  declared 
to  be  in  full  force  and  binding  for  the  future  organization  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  same  sense  and  with  the  same  understanding  with  which  it  was 
originally  adopted."  • 

It  came  up  for  action  in  this  House  on  the  llth  of  August,  1848.  On 
the  question  to  concur  with  the  Senate  in  this  amendment,  the  yeas  were 


566  APPENDIX. 

82,  and  the  nays  121.  I  have  the  vote  before  me.  This  was  a  proposition 
to  revive  and  declare  in  force  a  provision  which  is  now  claimed  to  have 
been  held  all  the  time  as  a  sacred  compact, — almost  as  sacred  as  the  Con 
stitution  itself;  and  it  was  rejected  by  an  overwhelming  majority  in  this 
House, — rejected,  sir,  by  the  North.  The  South  was  again  unanimous  for 
it.  From  the  North  at  this  time  I  think  there  were  but  four  votes  for  it, — 
Birdsall,  from  New  York  ;  Charles  Brown,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  and  Brod- 
head,  from  Pennsylvania.  Here  is  the  journal.  This  proposition  in  the 
Senate  was  moved  by  Mr.  Douglas.  It  received  every  Southern  vote  in 
that  body,  and  was  opposed  by  every  Northern  vote  except  Douglas.  Dick 
inson,  Bright,  Cameron,  TIannegan,  Sturgeon,  and  Fitzgerald.  The  vote 
on  the  adoption  of  it  in  that  body  was  33  to  21.  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was 
well  known  to  be  opposed  to  the  principle  on  which  it  was  founded,  gave 
it  his  support. 

But  upon  the  rejection  of  this  amendment  by  the  House,  and  a  disagree 
ment  between  the  two  Houses  upon  it,  the  amendment  was  lost,  and  tho 
Oregon  Bill  passed,  and  received  the  sanction  of  the  President  without  this 
recognition  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  but  in  the  face  of  its  open  repudi 
ation  and  abrogation  by  the  North.  This,  sir,  is  the  truth  of  history,  and 
so  let  it  be  written.  And  with  what  sort  of  face  can  gentlemen,  with  these 
facts  before  them,  rise  up  here  and  say  that  this  compromise  has  been 
undisturbed  and  acquiesced  in  for  thirty  years?  But,  sir,  there  is  still 
another  chapter  in  this  history. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  extensive  territories,  as  was  expected, 
were  acquired. — territories  extending  south  as  well  as  north  of  the  line  of 
36°  30', — constituting  a  public  domain  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square 
miles,  purchased  by  the  common  blood  and  common  treasure  of  the  people 
of  the  South  as  well  as  the  North.  The  policy  of  the  advocates  of  the 
u  Wihnot  Proviso"  from  the  beginning  had  been  to  appropriate  the  whole 
of  this  immense  region  exclusively  to  the  North.  Hence  their  uniform 
hostility  to  the  Missouri  Compromise,  because  that  was  founded  upon  the 
principle  of  division.  Their  determination  was  to  have  all.  The  South  was 
still  willing  to  divide,  notwithstanding  the  policy  which  she  ever  advocated 
was  to  leave  all  the  Territories  open  for  the  occupancy  and  colonization  of 
the  people  of  the  whole  country,  from  whatever  section  they  might  emi 
grate,  with  the  liberty  of  forming  such  institutions,  upon  a  republican 
basis,  as  they  might  deem  most  conducive  to  their  happiness,  interest,  and 
prosperity,  without  any  Congressional  restriction  or  dictation  whatever. 
This  was  always  the  doctrine  maintained  at  the  South.  She  was  willing 
to  divide,  only  as  an  alternative  between  that  and  a  greater  evil.  '  To  an 
entire  exclusion,  by  act  of  Congress,  she  had  made  up  her  mind  never  to 
submit,  let  consequences  be  what  they  might.  This  was  the  state  of 
things  upon  the  assembling  of  the  Thirty-first  Congress.  The  events  of 
that  Congress  are  too  recent  and  vivid  upon  the  recollection  of  all  to  need  a 
rehearsal.  The  majority  of  the  North  still  proclaimed  their  determination 


APPENDIX.  567 

to  appropriate  the  whole  of  the  public  domain  to  themselves.  Both  sec 
tions  stood  in  hostile  array  against  each  other.  The  strife  became  so  em 
bittered  and  fierce  that  legislation  was  paralyzed,  and  everything  seemed 
to  threaten  confusion  and  anarchy.  The  South  again  repeatedly  proposed 
a  settlement  upon  the  Missouri  line.  The  proposition  was  made  in  this 
House,  on  the  part  of  the  South,  for  the  last  time,  on  the  13th  day  of  June, 
1850.  It  was  in  these  words  : 

"  Provided,  however,  That  it  shall  be  no  objection  to  the  admission  into  the  Union 
of  any  State  which  may  hereafter  be  formed  out  of  the  territory  lying  south  of  the 
parallel  of  latitude  of  36°  30',  that  the  constitution  of  said  State  may  authorize  or 
establish  African  slavery  therein." 

This  proposition  was  rejected  in  committee  of  the  whole  upon  a  count 
by  tellers, — ayes  78,  noes  89.  It  was  the  last  time,  sir,  it  was  ever  offered. 
When  the  North  had  again,  and  again,  and  again,  for  three  years,  refused 
to  abide  by  it,  the  South,  driven  to  the  wall  upon  it,  was  thrown  back 
upon  her  original  rights  under  the  Constitution.  Her  next  position  was, 
that  territorial  restriction  by  Congress  should  be  totally  abandoned,  not 
only  south  of  36°  3(K,  but  north  of  that  line,  too !  Upon  this  ground  she 
planted  herself  on  the  15th  day  of  June, — the  debates  in  this  House  on 
that  day  were  more  exciting,  perhaps,  than  ever  upon  any  day  since  the 
beginning  of  the  Government.  It  was  upon  that  day  I  put  the  question 
directly  to  a  distinguished  gentleman,  then  here  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Vinton], 
whether  he  would  vote  for  the  admission  of  any  slave  State  into  the  Union, 
and  he  refused  to  say  that  he  would.  The  determination,  as  manifested 
by  the  votes  of  the  majority  of  the  North,  was  to  apply  legislative  restric 
tion  over  the  whole  of  the  common  territory,  in  open  and  shameless  dis 
regard  of  the  principles  of  the  so-called  Missouri  Compromise,  notwith 
standing  the  gentleman  from  Vermont  says  that  it  has  been  adhered  to 
and  held  inviolate  for  thirty  years.  It  was  on  that  day.  sir,  that  a  dis 
tinguished  colleague  of  mine  [Mr.  Toombs],  then  on  this  floor,  now  in  the 
other  wing  of  the  Capitol,  made  that  speech  which  has  become  somewhat 
famous  in  our  State,  in  which  he  said,  with  eloquence  seldom  heard  within 
these  walls : 

"We  do  not  oppose  California  on  account  of  the  anti-slavery  clause  in  her  consti 
tution.  It  was  her  right,  and  I  am  not  even  prepared  to  say  that  she  acted  unwisely 
in  its  exercise, — that  is  her  business;  but  I  stand  upon  the  great  principle  that  the 
South  has  a  right  to  an  equal  participation  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States." 

"Deprive  us  of  this  right  and  appropriate  this  common  property  to  yourselves, — 
it  is  then  your  Government,  not  mine.  Then  I  am  its  enemy ;  and  I  will  then,  if  I 
can,  bring  my  children  and  my  constituents  to  the  altar  of  liberty,  and,  like  Hamil- 
car,  I  would  swear  them  to  eternal  hostility  to  your  foul  domination.  Give  us  our 
just  rights,  and  we  are  ready  as  ever  heretofore,  to  stand  by  the  Union,  every  part 
of  it,  and  its  every  interest;  refuse  it,  and,  for  one,  I  will  strike  for  independence." 

It  was  then,  when   the   North   had  refused   all   compromise,  and  went 


568  APPENDIX. 

into  the  contest  for  the  "  whole  or  none,"  that  the  South  took  up  the 
gage,  planted  herself  upon  her  original  ground,  armed,  as  she  conceived. 
in  the  panoply  of  truth  ;  and  her  representatives  boldly  meeting  those 
arrayed,  not  only  against  her  rights,  but  a  great  principle  of  free  gov 
ernment,  face  to  face,  said: 

"  Lay  on,  Macduff ; 
And  damn'd  be  he  that  first  cries,  Hold,  enough !" 

The  grounds  she  then  took  were,  that  there  should  be  no  settlement  of 
this  territorial  controversy  but  upon  the  recognition  of  her  original  prin 
ciples,  which  were,  that  all  Congressional  restrictions  upon  this  subject 
were  wrong,  and  should  be  totally  abandoned.  This  was  the  basis  of  her 
ultimatum,  as  then  proclaimed.  It  was  offered  in  this  House  on  the  15th 
day  of  June,  1850.  No  decision  was  had  on  it.  It  was  offered  two  days 
after  in  the  Senate  to  the  then  pending  Compromise  Bill  in  the  Senate. 
This  proposition  was  in  these  words  : 

"And  when  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  admitted  as  a 
State,  it  shall  be  received  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitu 
tion  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  admission." 

The  whole  question  of  slavery  or  no  slavery  was  to  be  left  to  the  deter- 
,  mination  of  the  people  of  the  Territories,  whether  north  or  south  of  36° 
3CK,  or  any  other  line.  The  question  was  to  be  taken  out  of  Congress, 
where  it  had  been  improperly  thrust  from  the  beginning,  arid  to  be  left  to 
the  people  concerned  in  the  matter  to  decide  for  themselves.  This,  I  say, 
was  the  position  originally  held  by  the  South,  when  the  Missouri  restric 
tion  was  at  first  proposed.  The  principle  upon  which  that  position  rests 
lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  our  republican  institutions  ;  it  is  that  the 
citizens  of  every  distinct  and  separate  community  or  State  should  have 
the  right  to  govern  themselves  in  their  domestic  matters  as  they  please, 
and  that  they  should  be  free  from  intermeddling  restrictions  and  arbitrary 
dictation  on  such  matters  from  any  other  power  or  government  in  which 
they  have  no  voice.  It  was  out  of  a  violation  of  this  very  principle,  to  a 
great  extent,  that  the  \var  of  the  Revolution  sprung.  The  South  was 
always  on  the  republican  side  of  this  question,  while  the  North — no ;  or, 
at  least,  I  will  not  say  the  entire  North,  for  there  have  always  been  some 
of  them  with  the  South  on  this  question  ;  but  I  will  say,  while  a  majority 
of  the  North,  under  the  free-soil  lead  of  .that  section,  up  to  the  settlement 
of  the  contest  in  1850 — were  on  the  opposite  side. 

The  doctrine  of  \\\Q' lies trictioni sis  or  Free-Soilers,  or  those  who  hold  that 
Congress  ought  to  impose  their  arbitrary  mandates  upon  the  people  of  the 
Territories  in  this  particular,  whether  the  people  be  VilHng  or  unwilling, 
is  the  doctrine  of  Lord  North  and  his  adherents  in  the  British  Parliament 
towrard  the  colonies  during  his  administration.  He  and  they  claimed  the 
right  to  govern  the  colonies  "in  all  cases  whatsoever,"  notwithstanding 
the  want  of  representation  on  their  part.  The  doctrine  of  the  South  upon 


APPENDIX.  569 

this  question  has  been,  and  is,  the  doctrine  of  the  Whigs  in  1775  and  1776. 
It  involves  the  principle  that  the  citizens  of  every  community  should  have 
a  voice  in  their  government.  This  was  the  doctrine  of  the  people  of  Bos 
ton  in  1775,  when  the  response  was  made  throughout  the  colonies,  "  The 
cause  of  Boston  is  the  cause  of  us  all."  And  if  there  be  any  here  now 
who  call  themselves  Whigs  arrayed  against  this  great  principle  of  republi 
can  government,  I  will  do  toward  them  as  Burke  did  in  England ;  I  will 
appeal  from  u  the  new  to  the  old  Whigs." 

I  say  nothing  of  the  constitutional  view  of  the  question.  When  I  have 
been  asked  if  Congress  does  not  possess  the  power  to  impose  restrictions 
or  to  pass  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso,"  I  have  waived  that  issue ;  I  never  dis 
cuss  it.  On  that  point  I  have  told  my  constituents,  and  I  tell  you,  I  treat 
it  as  Chatham  treated  it  in  the  British  Parliament,  when  the  question  of 
power  to  tax  the  colonies  without  representation  was  raised  there.  That 
question  Chatham  would  not  discuss-,  but  he  told  those  who  were  so  un 
justly  exercising  it,  that  if  he  were  an  American  he  would  resist  it.  The 
question  of  power  is  not  the  question  ;  the  question  is,  is  it  right  thus  to 
exercise  it?  Is  it  consistent  with  representative  republican  government 
to  do  it?  That  is  the  question.  Where  do  you  new  latter-day  Whigs 
from  the  North  stand  on  this  question?  Will  you  take  the  side  of  Lord 
North  and  the  British  Tories,  and  maintain  that  it  is  the  duty  of  this 
great  Government,  with  its  superior  wisdom,  to  legislate  for  the  freemen 
of  this  country,  as  free-born  as  yourselves,  who  quit  your  State  jurisdic 
tions  and  seek  new  homes  in  the  West? 

And  where  do  you,  calling  yourselves  Democrats  from  the  North,  stand 
upon  this  great  question  of  popular  rights?  Do  you  consider  it  demo 
cratic  to  exercise  the  high  prerogative  of  stifling  the  voice  of  the  adven 
turous  pioneer  and  restricting  his  suffrage  in  a  matter  concerning  his  own 
interest,  happiness,  and  government,  which  he  is  much  more  capable  of 
deciding  than  you  are?  As  for  myself  and  the  friends  of  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  we  think  that  our  fellow-citizens  who  go  to  th§  frontier,  penetrate  the 
wilderness,  cut  down  the  forests,  till  the  soil,  erect  school-houses  and 
churches,  extend  civilization,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  future  States  and 
empires,  do  not  lose  by  their  change  of  place,  in  hope  of  bettering  their 
condition,  either  their  capacity  for  self-government  or  their  just  rights  to 
exercise  it,  conformably  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

We  of  the  South  are  willing  that  they  should  exercise  it  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  the  condition  of  the  African  race  among  them,  as  well  as  upon 
other  questions  of  domestic  policy.  If  they  see  fit  to  let  them  hold  the 
same  relation  to  the  white  race  which  they  do  in  the  Southern  States,  from 
the  conviction  that  jt  is  better  for  both  races  that  they  should,  let  them  do 
it.  If  they  see  fit  to  place  them  on  the  same  footing  they  occupy  in  the 
Northern  States,  that  is,  without  the  rights  of  a  citizen  or  the  protection  of 
a  master,  outcasts  from  society,  in  worse  condition  than  Cain,  who,  though 
sent  forth  as  a  vagabond,  yet  had  a  mark  upon  him  that  no  man  should 


570  APPENDIX. 

hurt  him,  —I  say,  if  they  choose  to  put  this  unfortunate  race  on  that  foot 
ing,  let  them  do  it.  That  is  a  matter  that  we  believe  the  people  there  can 
determine  for  themselves  better  than  we  can  for  them.  We  do  not  ask  you 
to  force  Southern  institutions  or  our  form  of  civil  polity  upon  them  ;  but 
to  let  the  free  emigrants  to  our  vast  public  domain,  in  every  part  and  par 
cel  of  it,  settle  this  question  for  themselves,  with  all  the  experience,  intel 
ligence,  virtue,  and  patriotism  they  may  carry  with  them.  This,  sir,  is 
our  position.  It  is,  as  I  have  said,  the  original  position  of  the  South.  It 
is  the  position  she  was  thrown  back  upon  in  June,  1850.  It  rests  upon 
that  truly  national  and  American  principle  set  forth  in  the  amendment 
offered  in  the  Senate  on  the  17th  of  June,  which  I  have  stated  ;  and  it  was 
upon  the  adoption  of  this  principle  that  that  most  exciting  and  alarming 
controversy  was  adjusted.  This  was  the  turning-point-,  upon  it  every 
thing  depended,  so  far  as  that  compromise  was  concerned. 

I  well  recollect  the  intensity  of  interest  felt  upon  the  fate  of  that  propo 
sition  in  the  Senate.  Upon  its  rejection  in  the  then  state  of  the  public 
mind  depended  consequences  which  no  human  forecast  could  see  or  esti 
mate.  The  interest  was  enhanced  from  the  great  uncertainty  and  doubt 
as  to  the  result  of  the  vote.  Several  Northern  Senators,  who  had  before 
yielded  the  question  of  positive  restriction,- — that  is,  the  "  Wihnot  Proviso," 
— had  given  no  indication  of  how  they  would  act  upon  this  clear  declara 
tion  that  the  people  of  the  Territories  might,  in  the  formation  of  their 
State  constitutions,  determine  this  question  for  themselves.  Among  these 
was  Mr.  Webster.  Just  before  the  question  was  put,  and  while  anxiety 
was  producing  its  most  torturing  effects,  this  most  renowned  statesman 
from  New  England  arose  to  address  the  Senate.  An  immense  crowd  was 
in  attendance.  The  lobby,  as  well  as  the  galleries,  was  full.  All  eyes 
were  instantly  turned  toward  him,  and  all  ears  eager  to  catch  every  word 
that  should  fall  from  his  lips  upon  this,  the  most  important  question,  per 
haps,  which  had  ever  been  decided  by  an  American  Senate.  His  own  vote? 
even,  might  turn  the  s*,le.  That  speech  I  now  have  before  me.  In  it  he 
declared  himself  for  the  amendment.  His  conclusion  was  in  these  words  : 

"Sir,  my  object  is  peace, — my  object  is  reconciliation.  My  purpose  is  not  to 
make  up  a  case  for  the  North,  or  to  make  up  a  case  for  the  South.  My  object  is  not 
to  continue  useless  and  irritating  controversies.  I  am  against  agitators  North  and 
South;  I  am  against  local  ideas  North  and  South,  and  against  all  narrow  and  local 
contests.  I  am  an  American,  and  I  know  no  locality  in  America.  That  is  my 
country.  My  heart,  my  sentiments,  my  judgment,  demand  of  me  that  I  should 
pursue  such  a  course  as  shall  promote  the  good,  and  the  harmony,  and  the  union  of 
the  whole  country.  This  I  shall  do,  God  willing,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter." 

The  reporter  says  : 

["  The  honorable  Senator  resumed  his  seat  amidst  the  general  applause  from  the 

gallery."] 

Yes,  sir ;  he  did.  I  was  there,  and  witnessed  the  scene ;  and  no  one,  I 
fancy,  who  was  there,  can  ever  forget  that  scene.  Every  heart  betit  easier. 


APPENDIX.  571 

The  friends  of  the  measure  felt  that  it  was  safe.  The  vote  was  taken, — 
the  amendment  was  adopted.  The  result  was  soon  communicated  from 
the  galleries,  and,  finding  its  way  through  every  passage  and  outlet  to  the 
rotunda,  was  received  with  exultation  by  the  crowd  there;  with  quick 
steps  it  was  borne  through  the  city ;  and  in  less  than  five  minutes,  per 
haps,  the  electric  wires  were  trembling  with  the  gladsome  news  to  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  country.  It  was  news  well  calculated  to  make  a 
nation  leap  with  joy,  as  it  did,  because  it  was  the  first  step  taken  toward 
the  establishment  of  that  great  principle  upon  which  this  Territorial 
question  was  disposed  of,  adjusted,  and  settled  in  1850.  It  was  a  new  step 
in  our  governmental  history.  From  the  beginning,  nothing  had  been  the 
cause  or  source  of  so  much  sectional  feeling  and  strife  as  this  question  of 
slavery  in  the  Territories, — a  question  so  nearly  allied  in  principle  to  the 
old  controversy  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother-country. 

With  the  colonies  the  question  was  not  so  much  the  amount  of  taxation  ; 
it  was  not  the  small  duty  on  tea, — that  was  far  from  being  oppressive, — 
but  it  was  the  principle  on  which  it  was  placed  ;  it  was  the  principle  as 
serted  and  maintained  in  the  "preamble"  that  our  forefathers  resisted  by 
arms.  And  Mr.  Webster  well  said,  on  some  occasion,  that  the  American 
Revolution  was  "  fought  against  a  preamble."  That  .preamble  asserted  the 
right,  or  power,  of  the  home  government  to  govern  the  colonies  in  all 
cases.  It  was  against  that  principle  the  war  was  commenced. 

The  cause  of  right  in  which  the  men  of '76  engaged  was  vindicated  in 
the  success  of  the  Revolution  and  the  disruption  of  the  British  Empire. 
And,  as  a  coincidence  worthy  to  be  noted,  it  so  happened  that  this  kindred 
principle  of  the  proper  and  just  rights  of  the  people 'of  our  territories,  or 
colonies,  made  its  first  step  toward  ultimate  success  on  the  anniversary  of 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  It  was  on  the  ever  memorable  17th  day  of 
June.  It  was  on  that  day  (1775)  the  blow  was  struck,  by  the  colonists 
at  Boston,  against  the  unwise,  unjust,  and  arbitrary  policy  of  Lord  North. 
And  it  was  on  the  same  day,  just  seventy-five  years  after,  that  the  unwise, 
unjust,  and  arbitrary  policy,  to  say  no  more  of  it,  of  this  General  Govern 
ment — attempting  to  compel  the  people  of  our  Territories  to  adopt  such 
institutions  as  may  please  a  majority  of  Congress,  without  consulting  the 
rights,  interests,  or  wishes  of  those  immediately  concerned — was,  for  the 
first  time,  abandoned  by  the  American  Senate  without  a  blow.  It  is  for 
tunate  for  us,  and  fortunate  for  millions  that  shall  come  after  us,  that  it 
was  abandoned  without  a  blow.  Had  the  restrictionists  of  this  country  held 
out  as  Lord  North's  ministry  did  in  their  policy,  it  might  have  ended  in 
consequences  most  disastrous  to  our  common  well-being,  and  the  hopes  of 
mankind.  But  they  did  not.  The  power  of  truth  prevailed.  Patriotism 
trampled  over  faction.  And  as  soon  as  this  great  American  principle — I 
so  call  it  because  it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  our  republican  institu 
tions—was  vindicated  in  the  Senate,  the  House  did  not  again  resume  the 
subject.  We  waited  until  the  bills  came  from  the  Senate.  The  same 


572  APPENDIX. 

provision  as  that  I  have  read  was  put  in  the  New  Mexico  Bill.  That 
swept  away  the  restriction  that  had  been  put  in  the  Texas  annexation 
resolutions  over  all  that  part  of  Texas  lying  north  of  30°  3(K,  included  in 
the  present  Territory  of  New  Mexico.  The  House  took  up  these  bills, 
after  they  were  passed  by  the  Senate  with  these  amendments,  with  this 
new  principle  incorporated  in  them,  and  gave  them  their  sanction. 

This,  sir,  is  what  is  called  the  Compromise  of  1850,  so  far  as  this  Terri 
torial  question  is  concerned.  It  was  adopted  after  the  policy  of  dividing 
territory  between  the  two  sections,  North  and  South,  was  wholly  aban 
doned,  discarded,  and  spurned  by  the  North.  It  was  based  upon  the  truly 
republican  and  national  policy  of  taking  this  disturbing  element  out  of 
Congress,  and  leaving  the  whole  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  to 
the  people,  there  to  settle  it  for  themselves.  And  it  is  in  vindication  of 
that  new  principle — then  established  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
our  Government — in  the  year  1850,  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century — 
that  we,  the  friends  o£  the  Nebraska  Bill,  whether  from  the  North  or 
South,  now  call  upon  this  House  and  the  country  to  carry  out  in  good 
faith,  and  give  effect  to  the  spirit  and  intent  of  those  important  measures 
of  Territorial  legislation.  The  principle  of  those  Territorial  acts  was  utterly 
inconsistent  with  every  thing- like  Congressional  restriction.  This  is  what 
we  wish  to  declare.  And  this  principle,  carried  out  in  good  faith,  neces 
sarily  renders  all  antecedent  legislation  inconsistent  with  it  inoperative 
and  void.  This,  also,  we  propose  to  declare. 

The  restriction  imposed  by  the  eighth  section  of  the  act  of  1820 — thrown 
into  that  act  out  of  place  and  without  any  legitimate  connection  with  it, 
like  a  fifth-wheel  to  a  wagon — is  just  such  antecedent  legislation.  The 
principle  on  which  it  was  based  has  been  abandoned,  totally  abandoned, 
as  I  have  shown,  by  those  who  now  contend  for  it,  and  superseded  by 
another,  a  later,  a  better,  and  a  much  more  national  and  republican  one. 
We  do  not  propose  to  repeal  "  any  compact,"  or  to  violate  faith  in  any 
sense, — we  only  invoke  you  to  stand  upon  the  Territorial  principle  estab 
lished  by  what  is  known  as  the  Compromise  of  1850.  That  has  already  re 
ceived  the  sanction  of  a-n  overwhelming  majority  of  the  American  people, 
as  I  doubt  not  it  always  will  receive  when  fairly  presented.  I  have 
seen  it  suggested,. that  if  a  proposition  should  be  made  to  extend  the  pro 
visions  of  this  bill  to  the  guarantee  to  the  South  in  the  Texas  annexation 
resolutions  for  the  admission  of  slave  States  from  Texas,  south  of  36°  30', 
such  proposition  would  certainly  defeat  it.  T5y  no  means,  sir  ;  those  who 
reason  thus  show  nothing  so  clearly  as  how  little  .they  understand  the  real 
merits  of  the  question. 

That  guarantee,  secured  in  the  Texas  resolutions,  so  far  as  the  character 
of  the  institutions  of  such  States,  hereafter  to  be  formed,  is  concerned, — 
that  is,  whether  they  be  slave  or  free, — is,  itself,  in  perfect  accordance 
with  the  present  provisions  of  this  bill.  That  guarantee  was  not  that 
those  new  States  should  be  slave  States,  but  that  the  people  there  might 


APPENDIX.  573 

do  as  they  please  upon  the  subject.  The  reason  that  the  guarantee  was 
important,  at  the  time,  was,  because  the  policy  of  Congressional  restriction 
had  not  then  been  abandoned.  The  South  never  asked  any  discrimination 
in  her  favor  from  your  hands.  All  that  the  South  secured  by  those  reso 
lutions,  so  far  as  the  character  of  the  States  is  concerned,  was,  simply, 
that  they  should  be  admitted  at  a  proper  time,  "  either  with  or  without 
slavery,"  as  the  people  may  determine.  As  to  the  number  of  States,  that 
is  a  different  question.  So  that  if  you  should  repeal  that  so-called  guar 
antee  for  slave  States,  by  extending  this  bill  to  that  country,  you  would 
only  erase  to  fill  again  with  the  same  words.  We  ask  no  discrimination 
in  our  favor.  And  all  we  ask  of  you  men  of  the  North  is,  that  you 
make  none  in  your  own.  And,  why  should  you?  Why  should  you  even 
have  the  desire  to  do  it?  Why  should  you  not  be  willing  to  remove 
this  question  forever  from  Congress,  and  leave  it  to  the  people  of  the 
Territories,  according  to  the  Compromise  of  1850?  You  have  greatly 
the  advantage  of  us  in  population.  The  white  population  of  the  United 
States  is  now  over  twenty  millions.  Of  this  number,  the  free  States  have 
more  than  two  to  one,  compared  with  the  South.  There  are  only  a  little 
over  three  millions  of  slaves. 

If  immigration  into  the  Territories,  then,  should  be  assumed  to  go  on  in 
the  ratio  of  population,  we  must  suppose  that  there  would  be  near  seven 
white  persons  to  one  slave  at  least ;  and  of  these  seven,  two  from  the  free 
States  to  one  from  the  South.  This  is  without  taking  into  the  estimation 
the  immense  foreign  immigration.  With  such  an  advantage  are  you  afraid 
to  trust  this  question  with  your  own  people? — men  reared  under  the  in 
fluence  of  your  own  boasted  superior  institutions  ?  With  all  the  prejudices 
of  birth  and  education^  against  us,  are  you  afraid  to  let  them  judge  for 
themselves?  Are  your  "free-born"1  sons,  who  never  " breathed  the  tainted 
air  of  slavery,"  such  nincompoops  that  they  cannot  be  "  trusted  out  without 
their  mothers'  leave"  ?  It  must  be  so,  or  else  another  inference  is  legiti 
mate  and  clear;  and  that  is,  that  notwithstanding  all  your  denunciations 
of  the  "hated  and  accursed  institution,"  you  have  an  inward  conscious 
ness  that  it  is  not  so  bad  after  all,  and  that  the  only  way  you  can  keep 
wise,  intelligent,  and  Christian  men,  even  from  New  England  itself,  from 
adopting  it,  is  to  set  yourselves  up  as  self-constituted  guardians  and  law 
makers  for  them.  I  consider  your  policy  and  the  tenacity  with  which 
you  hold  to  it,  as  the  fullest  and  amplest  vindication  of  the  institutions  of 
the  South  against  all  your  misrepresentations,  abuse,  and  billingsgate 
about  them. 

I  think,  sir,  I  have  shown  conclusively  that  the  line  of  36°  3(K,  known 
a?  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  never  was  a  "compact,"  in  any  proper 
sense  of  that  term.  And  even  if  it  was,  that  it  has  been  disregarded 
broken,  and  trampled  under- foot  by  the  parties  who  have  lately  so  sig 
nalized  themselves  as  its  champions  and  defenders.  I  have  shown  that 
while  the  South  was  opposed  to  the  policy  by  which  it  was  adopted,  and 


574  APPENDIX. 

took  it  as  a  disagreeable  alternative,  yet  she  never  offered  to  disturb  it, 
but  was  willing  to  abide  by  it  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony.  I  have 
shown,  also,  that  the  present  measure  is  no  "  breach  of  faith"  but  that  its 
object  is  to  carry  out  and  give  effect  to  the  great  Territorial  principle 
established  in  1850. 

It  remains  for  me  now  to  say  something  upon  the  last  part  of  the  speech 
of  the  gentleman  from  Vermont ;  and  that  is,  the  great  excitement  that 
this  measure  is  likely  to  produce.  The  country  was  in  peace  and  quiet, 
says  the  gentleman,  until  this  bill  was  introduced.  Well,  sir,  who  raises 
any  excitement  now?  Whence  does  the  opposition  come?  And  what 
are  the  reasons  for  it?  The  North,  it  is  said,  is  to  be  excited.  And  ex 
cited  about  what  ?  Why,  because  Congress,  when  this  bill  passes,  will 
have  recognized  the  Territorial  principle  established  in  1850,  and  declared 
all  antecedent  legislation  over  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
inconsistent  with  that  principle  inoperative  and  void.  An-d  what  is  the 
harm  or  mischief  to  be  done  ?  Why,  nothing,  but  extending  to  the  freemen 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  that  privilege  which  ought  to  be  the  birthright  of 
every  American  citizen, — to  have  a  voice  in  forming  the  institutions,  and 
passing  the  laws  under  which  he  is  to  live.  That  is  all.  '  Who,  then,  is 
to  be  agitated  at  this  monstrous  outrage  ?  Why,  nobody  but  those  who 
wish  to  impose  an  unjust  restriction  upon  a  freeman's  franchise  ;  nobody 
but  those  who  deny  to  a  portion  of  their  fellow-citizens  a  fitness  or  capacity 
for  republican  government.  Nobody  but  those  who  would  maintain  the 
same  policy  on  the  part  of  the  General  Government  toward  the  people  of 
the  Territories  which  Lord  North  and  his  Tory  confederates,  on  the  part  of 
England,  held  toward  the  colonies.  That  there  may  be,  and  that  there 
are,  some  such  bodies  I  do  not  doubt.  But  who  are  they,  and  what  is 
their  force?  They  are  nothing  but  the  fragments  of  the  old  "Wilmot 
Proviso,"  "Free-Soil,"  and  "Abolition  Phalanx,"  attempting  to  rally 
their  broken  and  routed  columns  by  this  hypocritical  cry  about  the  sacred- 
ness  of  compacts.  Who  ever  expected  to  see  the  New  York  Tribune  and 
the  Evening  Post,  and  such  newspapers,  pouring  forth  their  invocations  in 
behalf  of  the  u  sanctity  of  the  Missouri  Compromise"?  The  men  who 
thus  cry  aloud  now  are  the  very  same  who  denounced  every  man  at  the 
North  who  voted  to  maintain  that  line,  while  the  question  was  open,  as 
a  "  dough-face"  and  "  traitor."  They  thought  then  that  they  had  the 
world  in  a  swing,  and  would  have  everything  their  own  way  :  not  satisfied 
to  have  "the  Wilrnot"  fixed  upon  all  territory  north  of  36°  30X,  they  de 
termined  to  have  it  fixed  upon  the  whole  of  the  public  domain.  With  this 
spirit  they  went  into  the  contest.  And  so  far  from  getting  it  fixed  where 
it  was  not,  they  came  out  of  the  contest  with  the  establishment  of  a 
principle,  which  took  it  off  where  it  was  fixed  before.  Like  the  man  that 
failed  properly  to  use  his  talent,  they  had  taken  away  from  them  "even 
that  which  they  had."  They  went  a  "  woolling,"  and  came  back  thoroughly 
"fleeced"  themselves, — hence  their  desperation.  That  such  men  may 


APPENDIX.  575 

rail,  and  rave,  and  rage,  may  be  expected.  Let  them  rage  on.  Had  they, 
and  men  of  like  opinions  before  them,  never  thrust  their  unjust  and  anti- 
republican  territorial  policy  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  there  never  would 
have  been  sectional  strife  within  these  walls.  Whatever  of  party  conflicts 
we  might  have  had  growing  out  of  questions  of  legislation  for  so  vast  a 
country  as  ours  is,  with  all  its  complicated  and  diversified  interests,  we 
should  have  been  saved  from  this  lamentable  quarrelling  about  State  insti 
tutions,  which  threatened  such  fearful  consequences  in  1850. 

But,  sir,  we  are  told  that  discord  once  reigned  in  heaven.  The  evil 
spirit  of  pride  and  ambition,  craving  powers  and  prerogatives  not  proper 
or  legitimate,  entered  the  breasts  of  those  admitted  even  to  the  presence 
of  the  Most  High  ;  jealousy,  envy,  and  hate  produced  not  only  Avords,  but 
bloAVS,  between  archangels  ministering  round  his  throne. 

"  Long  time  in  even  scale 
The  battle  hung." 

These  unholy  conflicts,  so  unsuited  to  that  place,  Avere  never  composed 
until  heaven's  First-Born,  clothed  in  the  majesty  of  divine  power,  arose 
and  hurled  the  factious  hosts  from  the  empyrean  battlements  to  the  bot 
tomless  pit  beloAV. 

"  Nine  days  they  fell ;  confounded  chaos  roared, 
And  felt  tenfold  confusion,  in  their  fall, 
Through  his  wild  Anarchy  :  so  huge  a  rout 
Encumber'd  him  with  ruin.     Hell,  at  last, 
Yawning,  received  them  whole,  and  on  them  closed: 
Hell,  their  fit  habitation,  fraught  with  fire 
Unquenchable,  the  house  of  woe  and  pain. 
Disburden'd  Heaven  rejoiced,  and  soon  repaired 
Her  mural  breach,  returning  whence  it  rolled." 

From  that  profound  deep,  beloAV  which  there  was  no  lower  deep,  they 
still  sent  up  much  cursing,  wailing,  howling,  and  hissing. 

So,  sir,  in  these  halls,  sacred  to  national  purposes,  and  those  objects  for 
which  the  Government  Avas  formed,  we  have  had  peace-destroying  feuds 
and  unseemly  conflicts  engendered  and  instigated  by  the  fell  demon  of 
"Restriction,"  or  "  Wilmot  Proviso,"  which  once  stalked  with  insolent 
brow,  in  our  very  midst.  These  scenes  lasted  until  the  Genius  of  our 
country  rose  in  its  might,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1850,  armed  with  the  great 
American  principle  of  self-government,  Avhich  had  borne  our  fathers 
through  the  struggle  of  the  Revolution,  and  drove  the  hideous  monster, 
with  all  his  impious  crew,  from  the  Capitol, — cast  them  out  and  hurled 
them  downward  to  that  IOAV  deep  from  which  their  plaintive  howls  noAV 
ascend. 

These  convocations  at  the  Tabernacle  and  at  Chicago  and  elsewhere — 
the  ravings  of  the  infidel  preacher,  Theodore  Parker,  and  all  his  weaker 
folloAvers— are  but  the  repetition  of  the  Pandemonium  scenes;  there  con- 


576  APPENDIX. 

sultations  were  held,  and  grave  debate  had,  how  the  banished  fiends  should 
regain  their  lost  estate,  "  Whether  by  open  war  or  covert  guile."  These 
manifestations  may  be  expected.  We  have  had  them  before, — yea,  and 
much  more  violent,  too.  When  the  Compromise  of  1850  was  passed,  these 
same  men  declared  open  war  against  its  provisions.  "  Repeal  1"  "  Repeal !" 
was  blazoned  upon  their  banners ;  mobs  were  got  up  in  Boston,  in  Syra 
cuse,  and  at  Christiana;  blood  was  shed  by  these  resisters  of  the  law. 
The  spirit  of  the  North  was  appealed  to  in  fanatic  accents.  That  spirit 
answered  in  prompt  and  patriotic  tones  of  popular  reprobation  at  the 
ballot-box,  just  as  it  will  do  again.  These  threats  of  what  will  be  the  fate 
of,  and  "  political  graves"  of,  Northern  men  who  vote  for  this  bill,  can 
fright  nobody  but  old  women  and  timid  children.  They  are  worse  than 
ghost  stories, — we  have  heard  them  before. 

I  recollect  well  with  what  eloquence  a  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Root] 
some  years  ago,  in  this  House,  spoke  of  the  deep  degradation  that  awaited 
every  man  at  the  North  who  should  dare  to  vote  against  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso.  No  patronage  of  the  Government  could  save  him  ;  no  land-office, 
ever  so  remote,  could  keep  him  from  being  hunted  down,  ferreted  out,  and 
held  up  to  the  just  scorn  of  an  indignant  constituency.  But  his  prophetic 
warning  came  far  short  of  becoming  history.  Northern  men  did  abandon 
the  Proviso.  In  doing  so  they  acted  wisely,  justly,  nobly,  and  patriotically  ; 
and  so  far  from  digging  their  political  graves  by  the  act,  they  have  but 
planted  themselves  deeper  and  firmer  in  the  hearts,  love,  affection,  and 
admiration  of  their  countrymen. 

The  same  "  scarecrow"  was  held  up  to  Northern  men  who  occupied 
national  ground  on  the  admission  of  Missouri.  It  was  said  then  that  they 
would  find  u  their  graves"  in  the  ground  where  they  stood.  And  some 
pretend  now  to  say  that  such  was  the  fact.  But  in  the  record  I  have  before 
me,  I  see,  among  the  very  few  from  the  North  who  did  then  stand  up  for 
the  right  against  the  huge  clamor  that  was  raised  against  them,  the  names 
of  Baldwin,  from  Pennsylvania;  Holmes,  of  Massachusetts;  and  Storrs, 
of  New  York  ;  and  Southard,  of  New  Jersey.  Where  did  Southard  find 
his  grave  ?  Mr.  Baldwin  was  afterwards  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Holmes,  when  Maine  was  admitted  as  a 
State,  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  and  held  that  highly  honorable  post,  for 
aught  I  know,  as  long  as  he  wanted  it. 

Mr.  Storrs,  who  was  a  man  of  great  talents,  never  lost  the  confidence 
of  his  constituents.  Had  he  not  been  cut  down  by  death  at  an  early  age, 
he  might,  and  most  probably  would,  have  attained  the  highest  honors  of 
the  country,  not  excepting  the  chief  magistracy  itself.  These  statesmen 
found  "  political  graves"  where  many  of  those  who  now  rail  so  fiercely 
would,  doubtless,  be  very  willing  to  find  theirs.  But  of  those  who  espoused 
the  side  of  the  restrictionists  at  that  time  I  do  not  see  the  name  of  a  single 
man  who  ever  attained  high  political  distinction  in  this  country.  Their 
very  memories,  in  most  instances,  have  passed  away,  and  their  "graves" 


APPENDIX.  577 

if  they  have  any,  would  be  about  as  hard  to  find  as  that  "  of  Moses  in  the 
wilderness."  • 

So  much,  then,  for  these  threats.  They  are  buf  the  "ravings,"  and 
"howlings,"  and  "hissings"  of  the  beaten  and  routed  ranks  of  the  fac- 
tionists  and  malcontents.  They  are  the  wailings  of  the  politically  con 
demned,  coming  up  from  the  bottom  of  that  deep  pit  where  they  have 
been  hurled  by  a  patriotic  people  for  the  good,  the  peace,  quiet,  and  har 
mony  of  the  whole  country.  We  need  not  expect  to  silence  them, — the 
friends  and  advocates  of  the  Compromise  of  1850  did  not  expect  or  look 
for  that  at  the  time.  That  would  have  been  a  forlorn-hope  ;  and  though 
many  of  the  enemies  of  the  compromise,  of  the  North,  who  were  beaten 
in  the  great  battle  of  1852,  have  since  seemingly  surrendered  and  begged 
for  quarters,  pretending  to  be  ready  to  acquiesce,  I  must  be  permitted  to 
say  on  this  occasion,  without  any  wish  to  push  myself  in  the  New  York 
contest,  I  have  very  little  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  their  professions. 
They  fought  the  compromise  as  long  as  there  was  any  prospect  of  making 
anything  by  fighting  it.  When  whipped,  routed,  and  beaten,  then,  like 
craven  and  mercenary  captives,  they  turned  to  power,  to  see  if  anything 
couW.  be  made  there  by  subserviency  and  sycophancy.  I  have  no  faith  in 
their  conversion, — never  have  had  any.  Warmed  into  life  again  by  the 
genial  rays  of  Executive  patronage,  I  have  always  thought,  and  still  think, 
that  they  will  only  become  the  more  formidable  whenever  the  occasion 
offers  for  their  real  principles  to  manifest  themselves.  Hydrophobia  can 
never  be  cured, — it  will  break  out  on  the' changes  of  the  moon.  And  so 
with  the  disease  of  negromania.  Sir,  the  viper  will  hiss  and  even  sting 
the  bosom  that  nurtures  and  fosters  it.  Whether  I  am  right  in  this  an  • 
ticipation,  or  whether  this  Administration  is  right  in  its  present  policy, 
we  shall  see. 

But  we  who  stood  by  the  Compromise  of  1850,  and  intend  to  stand  by  it 
now,  and  carry  it  out  in  good  faith,  are  not  to  be  moved  by  any  clamor 
got  up  by  its  old  enemies ;  nor  are  we  to  be  shaken  in  our  purpose  by  any 
mistaken  appeals  in  behalf  of  the  "  sanctity  of  compacts,"  coming  from  a 
source  even  as  respectable  as  that  of  the  National  Intelligencer.  That 
paper,  in  a  late  article,  seems  to  consider  the  line  of  36°  30X  almost  as 
binding  as  the  Constitution, — the  bare  "suggestion"  for  a  departure  from 
which  should  arouse  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  everywhere.  If  so, 
why  did  not  that  paper  raise  the  alarm  in  1836,  when  Mr.  Adams  in 
this  House,  backed  by  fifty-two  Northern  votes,  made  some  more  than  "  a 
suggestion"  to  depart  from  it? 

In  1845,  when  a  majority  of  the  North  voted  against  the  annexation  of 
Texas  with  this  line  in  it,  why  was  not  its  voice  again  raised?  In  1847 
and  1848,  when  it  was  completely  set  at  naught  and  trampled  upon  by 
the  North,  as  I  have  shown,  why  was  it  not  then  raised?  Then  the  con 
test  was  fierce  and  hot  between  those  who  stood  by  that  line  and  those 
who  were  for  its  total  obliteration.  For  three  long  years  when  this  contest 


578  APPENDIX. 

raged,  why  did  the  Intelligencer  never  say  one  word  in  behalf  of  its  main 
tenance  and  preservation?  That  was  certainly  the  time  for  any  one  who 
regarded  it  as  imbued  with  u  sanctity"  and  "  sacredness"  to  speak.  It  is 
too  late  now.  The  old  principle  in  our  Territorial  policy  has  passed  away, 
and  we  have  in  its  stead  a  new  one.  We  are  not,  therefore,  to  be  shaken 
in  our  purpose  to  carry  out  this  new  principle  b;y  any  such  clamor  or 
appeals.  Our  purpose  is  fixed,  and  our  course  is  onward.  What  little 
agitation  may  be  got  up  in  Congress,  or  out  of  it,  while  this  debate  lasts, 
will  speedily  subside,  as  soon  as  this  new  principle  is  once  more  vindicated. 
Why  do  you  hear  no  more  wrangling  here  about  slavery  and  freedom  in 
Utah  and  New  Mexico?  Because  by  this  new  principle  the  irritating 
cause  was  cast  out  of  Congress,  and  turned  over  to  the  people,  who  are 
most  capable  of  disposing  of  it  for  themselves.  Pass  this  bill — the  sooner 
the  better — and  the  same  result  will  ensue.  This  shows  the  wisdom  and 
statesmanship  of  those  by  whom  this  principle  was  adopted  as  our  settled 
policy  on  this  subject  in  1850.  A  cinder  in  the  eye  will  irritate  and  inflame 
it,  until  you  get  it  out;  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  will  do  the  same  thing.  The 
best  remedy  is  to  remove  it  immediately.  That  is  just  what  the  Com 
promise  of  1850  proposes  to  do  with  this  Slavery  question  in  the  Territories 
whenever  it  arises.  Cast  it  out, of  Congress,  and  leave  it  to  the  people,  to 
whom  it  very  properly  and  rightfully  belongs. 

In  behalf  of  this  principle,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  to-day  address  this 
House,  not  as  partisans, — neither  as  Whigs  nor  Democrats,  but  as  Americans. 
I  do  not  know  what  you  call  me,  or  how  you  class  me,  whether  as  Whig 
or  Democrat,  in  your  political  vocabulary,  nor  do  I  care.  Principles  should 
characterize  parties,  and  not  names.  I  call  myself  a  Republican,  and  I 
would  invoke  you,  one  and  all,  to  come  up  and  sustain  this  great  Repub 
lican  American  policy,  established  in  1850,  for  the  permanent  peace, 
progress,  and  glory  of  our  common  country.  If  any  of  you  are  convinced 
of  its  propriety  and  correctness,  but  are  afraid  that  your  constituents  are 
not  equally  convinced,  follow  the  example  of  Mr.  Webster,  after  his  7th 
of  March  speech,  when  the  doors  of  Faneuil  Hall  were  closed  against  him. 
Meet  your  constituents,  if  need  be  in  the  open  air,  and,  face  to  face,  tell 
them  they  are  wrong,  and  you  are  right.  I  think,  sir,  that  great  man,  on 
no  occasion  of  his  life,  ever  appeared  toN  greater  advantage  in  the  display 
of  those  moral  qualities  which  mark  those  entitled  to  lasting  fame  than 
he  did  in  the  speech  he  made  in  an  open  barouche  before  the  Revere 
House,  in  Boston,  to  three  thousand  people,  who  had  assembled  to  hear 
what  reason  he  had  to  give  for  his  course  in  the  Senate.  He  stood  as  Burke 
before  the  people  of  Bristol,  or  as  Aristides  before  the  people  of  Athens, 
when  he  told  them  above  all  things  to  be  "just."  In  that  speech  Mr. 
Webster  told  the  people  of  Boston,  "You  have  conquered  an  inhospitable 
climate  ;  you  have  conquered  a  sterile  and  barren  soil ;  you  have  conquered 
the  ocean  that  washes  your  shores  ;  you  have  fought  your  way  to  the  re 
spect  and  esteem  of  mankind,  but  you  have  yet  to  conquer  your  preju- 


APPENDIX.  579 

dices."  That  was  indeed  speaking  llvera  pro  gratis"  And  that  was  a 
scene  for  the  painter  or  sculptor  to  perpetuate  the  man  in  the  exhibition 
of  his  noblest  qualities  far  more  worthy  than  the  occasion  of  his  reply  to 
Mr.  Hayne,  or  his  great  7th  of  March  speech.  Imitate  his  example, — 
never  lose  the  consciousness  that  "  Truth  is  mighty  and  will  ultimately 
prevail."  The  great  "  truth"  as  to  the  right  principle  of  disposing  of  this 
Slavery  question  in  the  Territories  was  first  proclaimed  by  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  in  1850.  It  was  as  oil  upon  the  waters.  It  gave 
quiet  and  repose  to  a  distracted  country.  Let  it  be  the  pride  of  us  all  in 
this  Congress  to  reaffirm  the  principle. — make  it  co-extensive  with  your 
limits, — inscribe  it  upon  your  banners, — make  it  broad  as  your  Constitution, 
— proclaim  it  everywhere,  that  the  people  of  the  common  territories  of  the 
Union,  wherever  the  flag  floats,  shall  have  the  right  to  form  such  repub 
lican  institutions  as  they  please.  Let  this  be  our  pride  ;  and  then  with  a 
common  feeling  in  the  memories  and  glories  of  the  past,  we  can  all,  from 
every  State,  section,  and  Territory,  look  with  hopeful  anticipations  to  that 
bright  prospect  in  the  future  which  beckons  us  on  in  our  progress  to  a  still 
higher  degree  of  greatness,  power,  and  renown. 


APPENDIX  B. 


SPEECH  BEFOEE   THE  LEGISLATURE   OF  GEORGIA. 

Delivered  at  Milledgeville,  November  14th,  1860. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  I  appear  before  you  to-night  at  the  request  of  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  and  others,  to  speak  of  matters  of  the  deepest 
interest  that  can  possibly  concern  us  all,  of  an  earthly  character.  There 
is  nothing, — no  question  or  subject  connected  with  this  life,  that  concerns 
a  free  people  so  intimately  as  that  of  the  Government  under  which  they 
live.  We  are  now,  indeed,  surrounded  by  evils.  .Never,  since  I  entered 
upon  the  public  stage,  has  the  country  been  so  environed  with  difficulties 
and  dangers  that  threatened  the  public  peace  and  the  very  existence  of 
society  as  now.  I  do  not  appear  before  you  at  iny  own  instance.  It  is 
not  to  gratify  any  desire  of  my  own  that  I  am  here.  Had  I  consulted  my 
own  ease  and  pleasure,  I  should  not  be  before  you;  but  believing  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  good  citizen,  when  called  on,  to  give  his  counsels  and 
views  whenever  the  country  is  in  danger,  as  to  the  best  policy  to  be  pur 
sued,  I  am  here.  For  these  reasons,  and  these  only,  do  I  bespeak  a  calm, 
patient,  and  attentive  hearing. 

My  object  is  not  to  stir  up  strife,  but  to  allay  it ;  not  to  appeal  to  your 
passions,  but  to  your  reason.  Good  governments  can  never  be  built  up  or 
sustained  by  the  impulse  of  passion.  I  wish  to  address  myself  to  your 
good  sense,  to  your  good  judgment,  and  ifT  after  hearing,  you  disagree,  let 
us  agree  to  disagree,  and  part  as  .we  met,  friends.  We  all  have  the  same 
object,  the  same  interest.  That  people  should  disagree  in  republican 
governments  upon  questions  of  public  policy  is  natural.  That  men  should 
disagree  upon  all  matters  connected  with  human  investigation,  whether  re 
lating  to  science  or  human  conduct,  is  natural.  Hence  in  free  governments 
parties  will  arise.  But  a  free  people  should  express  their  different  opinions 
with  liberality  and  charity,  with  no  acrimony  toward  those  of  their  fellows 
when  honestly  and  sincerely  given.  These  are  my  feelings  to-night. 

Let  us,  therefore,  reason  together.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  say  aught  to 
wound  the  feelings  of  any  individual  who  may  be  present;  and  if,  in  the 
ardency  with  which  I  shall  express  my  opinions,  I  shall  say  anything  which 
may  be  deemed  too  strong,  let  it  be  set  down  to  the  zeal  with  which  I  advo 
cate  my  own  convictions.  There  is  with  me  no  intention  to  irritate  or  offend. 
580 


APPENDIX.  581 

Fellow-citizens,  we  are  all  launched  in  the  same  bark ;  we  are  all  in  the 
same  craft  in  the  wide  political  ocean, — the  same  destiny  awaits  us  all  for 
weal  or  woe.  We  have  been  launched  in  the  good  old  ship  that  has  been 
upon  the  waves  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  which  has  been  in  so  many 
tempests  and  storms,  has  been  many  times  in  peril,  and  patriots  have  often 
feared  that  they  should  have  to  give  it  up ;  ay,  have  at  times  almost  given 
it  up  ;  but  still  the  gallant  ship  is  afloat.  Though  new  storms  now  howl 
around  us,  and  the  tempest  beats  heavily  against  us,  I  say  to  you,  Don't 
give  up  the  ship, — don't  abandon  her  yet.  If  she  can  possibly  be  pre 
served,  and  our  rights,  interests,  and  security  be  maintained,  the  object 
is  worth  the  effort.  Let  us  not,  on  account  of  disappointment  and  chagrin 
at  the  reverse  of  an  election,  give  up  all  as  lost ;  but  let  us  see  what  can 
be  done  to  prevent  a  wreck.  [ A  voice. — "  The  ship  has  holes  in  her."]  And 
there  may  be  leaks  in  her,  but  let  us  stop  them  if  we  can  ;  many  a  stout 
old  ship  has  been  saved  with  richest  cargo  after  many  leaks ;  and  it  may 
be  so  now. 

I  do  not  intend,  on  this  occasion,  to  enter  into  the  history  of  the  reasons 
or  causes  of  the  embarrassments  which  press  so  heavily  upon  us  all  at  this 
time.  In  justice  to  myself,  however,  I  must  barely  state  upon  this  point 
that  I  do  think  much  of  it  depended  upon  ourselves.  The  consternation 
that  has  come  upon  the  people  is  the  result  of  a  sectional  election  of  a 
President  of  the  United  States,  one  whose  opinions  and  avowed  principles 
are  in  antagonism  to  our  interests  and  rights,  and  we  believe,  if  carried 
out,  would  subvert  the  Constitution  under  which  we  now  live.  But  are  we 
entirely  blameless  in  this  matter,  my  countrymen  ?  I  give  it  to  you  as  my 
opinion,  that  but  for  the  policy  the  Southern  people  pursued,  this  fearful 
result  would  not  have  occurred.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  been  elected,  I  doubt 
not,  by  a  minority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  What  will  be  the 
extent  of  that  minority  we  do  not  yet  know,  but  the  disclosure,  when 
made,  will  show,  I  think,  that  a  majority  of  the  constitutional  conservative 
voters  of  the  country  were  against  him  ;  and  had  the  South  stoo.d  firmly 
in  the  Convention  at  Charleston,  on  her  old  platform  of  principles  of  non 
intervention,  there  is  in  my  mind  but  little  doubt  that  whoever  might  have 
been  the  candidate  of  the  national  Democratic  party  would  have  been 
elected  by  as  large  a  majority  as  that  which  elected  Mr.  Buchanan  or  Mr. 
Pierce.  Therefore  let  us  not  be  hasty  and  rash  in  our  action,  especially 
if  the  result  be  attributable  at  all  to  ourselves.  Before  looking  to  extreme 
measures,  let  us  see,  as  Georgians,  that  everything  which  can  be  done  to 
preserve  our  rights,  our  interests,  and  our  honor,  as  well  as  the  peace  of 
the  country  in  the  Union,  be  first  done. 

The  first  question  that  presents  itself  is,  Shall  the  people  of  the  South 
secede  from  the  Union  in  consequence  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
the  Presidency  of  the  United  States?  My  countrymen,  I  tell  you  frankly, 
candidly,  and  earnestly,  that  I  do  not  think  they  ought.  In  my  judgment, 
the  election  of  no  man,  constitutionally  chosen  to  that  high  office,  is-suffi- 


582  APPENDIX. 

cient  cause  for  any  State  to  separate  from  the  Union.  It  ought  to  stand 
by  and  aid  still  in  maintaining  the  Constitution  of  the  country.  To  make 
a  point  of  resistance  to  the  Government,  to  withdraw  from  it  because  a 
man  has  been  constitutionally  elected,  puts  us  in  the  wrong.  We  are 
pledged  to  maintain  the  Constitution.  Many  of  us  have  sworn  to  support 
it.  Can  we,  therefore,  for  the  mere  election  of  a  man  to  the  Presidency, 
and  that  too  in  accordance  with  the  prescribed  forms  of  the  Constitution, 
make  a  point  of  resistance  to  the  Government,  without  becoming  the 
breakers  of  that  sacred  instrument  ourselves  by  withdrawing  ourselves 
from  it?  "Would  we  not  be  in  the  wrong?  Whatever  fate  is  to  befall  this 
country,  let  it  never  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  people  of  the  South,  and 
especially  to  the  people  of  Georgia,  that  we  were  untrue  to  our  national 
engagements.  Let  the  fault  and  the  wrong  rest  upon  others.  If  all  our 
hopes  are  to  be  blasted,  if  the  Republic  is  to  go  down,  let  us  be  found  to 
the  last  moment  standing  on  the  deck  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  waving  over  our  heads.  Let  the  fanatics  of  the  North  break  the 
Constitution,  if  such  is  their  fell  purpose.  Let  the  responsibility  be  upon 
them.  I  shall  presently  speak  more  of  their  acts ;  but  let  not  the  South — 
let  us  not  be  the  ones  to  commit  the  aggression.  We  went  into  the  elec 
tion  with  this  people.  The  result  was  different  from  what  we  wished  ;  but 
the  election  has  been  constitutionally  held.  Were  we  to  make  a  point  of 
resistance  to  the  Government  and  go  out  of  the  Union  on  that  account,  the 
record  would  be  made  up  hereafter  against  us. 

But  it  is  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  and  principles  are  against  the 
Constitution,  and  that,  if  he  carries  them  out,  it  will  be  destructive  of  our 
rights.  Let  us  not  anticipate  a  threatened  evil.  If  he  violates  the  Con 
stitution,  then  will  come  our  time  to  act.  Do  not  let  us  break  it,  because, 
forsooth,  he  may.  If  he  does,  that  is  the  time  for  us  to  strike.  I  think  it 
would  be  injudicious  and  unwise  to  do  this  sooner.  I  do  not  anticipate 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  will  do  anything  to  jeopard  our  safety  or  security,  what 
ever  may  be  his  spirit  to  do  it ;  for  he  is  bound  by  the  constitutional  checks 
which  are  thrown  around  him,  which  at  this  time  render  him  powerless 
to  do  any  great  mischief.  This  shows  the  wisdom  of  our  system.  The 
President  of  the  United  States  is  no  emperor,  no  dictator, — he  is  clothed 
with  no  absolute  power.  He  can  do  nothing  unless  he  is  backed' by  power 
in  Congress.  The  House  of  Representatives  is  largely  in  a  majority 
against  him.  In  the  very  face  and  teeth  of  the  heavy  majority  which  he 
has  obtained  in  the  Northern  States,  there  have  been  large  gains  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  the  Conservative  Constitutional  party  of  the 
country,  which  here  I  will  call  the  National  Democratic  party,  because 
that  is  the  cognomen  it  has  at  the  North.  There  are  twelve  of  this  party 
elected  from  New  York  to  the  next  Congress,  I  believe.  In  the  present 
House  there  are  but  four,  I  think.  In  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Ohio 
and  Indiana  there  have  been  gains.  In  the  present  Congress  there  were 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  Republicans,  when  it  takes  one  hundred  and 


APPENDIX.  583 

seventeen  to  make  a  majority.  The  gains  in  the  Democratic  party  in  Penn 
sylvania,  Ohio,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Indiana,  and  other  States,  notwith 
standing  its  distractions,  have  been  enough  to  make  a  majority  of  near 
thirty  in  the  next  House  against  Mr.  Lincoln.  Even  in  Boston,  Mr.  Bur- 
lingame,  one  of  the  noted  leaders  of  the  fanatics  of  that  section,  has  been 
defeated  and  a  conservative  man  returned  in  his  stead.  Is  this  the  time, 
then,  to  apprehend  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  this  large  majority  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  against  him,  can  carry  out  any  of  his  unconstitutional 
principles  in  that  body? 

In  the  Senate  he  will  also  be  powerless.  There  will  be  a  majority  of 
four  against  him.  This,  after  the  loss  of  Bigler,  Fitch,  and  others,  by  the 
unfortunate  dissensions  of  the  National  Democratic  party  in  their  States. 
Mr.  Lincoln  cannot  appoint  an  officer  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate, — 
he  cannot  form  a  cabinet  without  the  same  consent.  He  will  be  in  the 
condition  of  George  the  Third  (the  embodiment  of  Toryism),  who  had  to 
ask  the  Whigs  to  appoint  his  ministers,  and  was  compelled  to  receive  a 
cabinet  utterly  opposed  to  his  views-,  and  so  Mr.  Lincoln  will  be  compelled 
to  ask  of  the  Senate  to  choose  for  him  a  cabinet,  if  the  Democracy  of  that 
party  chose  to  put  him  on  such  terms.  lie  will  be  compelled  to  do  this  or 
let  the  Government  stop,  if  the  National  Democratic  men — the  conserva- 
'  tive  men  in  the  Senate — should  so  determine.  Then  how  can  Mr.  Lincoln 
obtain  a  cabinet  which  would  aid  him,  or  allow  him,  to  violate  the  Consti 
tution.  Why,  then,  I  say,  should  we  disrupt  the  ties  of  the  Union  when 
his  hands  are  tied, — when  he  can  do  nothing  against  us? 

I  have  heard  it  mooted  that  no  man  in  the  State  of  Georgia  who  is  true 
to  her  interests  could  hold  office  under  Mr.  Lincoln.  But  I  ask  who  ap 
points  to  office  ?  Not  the  President  alone-,  the  Senate  has  to  concur.  No 
man  can  be  appointed  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  Should  any 
man,  then,  refuse  to  hold  office  that  was  given  him  by  a  Democratic  Senate? 

Mr.  Toombs  interrupted,  and  said,  if  the  Senate  was  Democratic,  it  was 
for  Breckenridge. 

Well,  then,  continued  Mr.  Stephens,  I  apprehend  that  no  man  could  be 
justly  considered  untrue  to  the  interests  of  Georgia,  or  incur  any  disgrace, 
if  the  interests  of  Georgia  required  it,  to  hold  an  office  which  a  Brecken 
ridge  Senate  had  given  him,  even  though  Mr.  Lincoln  should  be  President. 
[Applause.] 

I  trust,  my  countrymen,  you  will  be  still  and  silent.  I  am  addressing 
your  good  sense.  I  am  giving  you  my  views  in  a  calm  and  dispassionate 
manner,  and  if  any  of  you  differ  from  me,  you  can  on  some  other  occasion 
give  your  views,  as  I  am  doing  now,  and  let  reason  and  true  patriotism 
decide  between  us.  In  my  judgment,  I  say,  under  such  circumstances, 
there  would  be  no  possible  disgrace  for  a  Southern  man  to  hold  office.  No 
man  will  be  suffered  to  be  appointed,  I  have  no  doubt,  who  is  not  true  to 
the  Constitution,  if  Southern  Senators  are  true  to  their  trusts,  as  I  cannot 
permit  myself  to  doubt  that  they  will  be. 


584  APPENDIX. 

My  honorable  friend  who  addressed  you  last  night  [Mr.  Toombs],  and 
to  whom  I  listened  with  the  profoundest  attention,  asks  if  we  would  sub 
mit  to  Black  Republican  rule?  I  say  to  you  and  to  him,  as  a  Georgian,  I 
never  would  submit  to  any  Black  Republican  aggression  upon  our  Consti 
tutional  rights. 

I  will  never  myself  consent,  as  much  as  I  admire  this  Union,  for  the 
glories  of  the  past  or  the  blessings  of  the  present,  as  much  as  it  has  done 
for  civilisation  ;  as  much  as  the  hopes  of  the  world  hang  upon  it :  I  would 
never  submit  to  aggression  upon  my  rights  to  maintain  it  longer  ;  and  if 
they  cannot  be  maintained  in  the  Union  standing  on  the  Georgia  platform. ) 
where  I  have  stood  from  the  time  of  its  adoption,  I  would  be  in  favor  of 
*w  disrupting  every  tie  which  binds  the  States  together.  I  will  have  equality 
*  for  Georgia  and  for  the  citizens  of  Georgia  in  this  Union,  or  I  will  look 
for  new  safeguards  elsewhere.  This  is  my  position.  The  only  question 
now  is,  Can  this  be  secured  in  the  Union  ?  This  is  what  I  am  counselling 
with  you  to-night  about.  Can  it  be  secured?  In  my  judgment  it  may  be  ; 
but  it  may  not  be ;  but  let  us  do  all  we  can,  so  that  in  the  future,  if  the 
worst  comes,  it  may  never  be  said  we  were  negligent  in  doing  our  duty  to 
the  last. 

My  countrymen,  I  am  not  of  those  who  believe  the  Union  has  been  a 
curse  up  to  this  time.  True  men,  men  of  integrity,  entertain  different 
views  from  me  on  this  subject.  I  do  not  question  their  right  to  do  so:  1 
would  not  impugn  their  motives  in  so  doing.  Nor  will  I  undertake  to  say 
that  this  Government  of  our  fathers  is  perfect.  There Js  nothing  perfect 
in  this  world  of  human  origin  ;  nothing  connected  with  human  nature 
from  man  himself  to  any  of  his  works.  You  may  select  the  wisest  and 
best  men  for  your  judges,  and  yet  how  many  defects  are  there  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  justice !  You  may  select  the  Avisest  and  best  men  for  your 
legislators,  and  yet  how  many  defects  are  apparent  in  your  lawrs  !  And  it  is 
so  in  our  Government.  But  that  this  Government  of  our  fathers,  with  all 
its  defects,  comes  nearer  the  objects  of  all  good  governments  than  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  is  my  settled  conviction.  Contrast  it  now 
with  any  other. 

["  England,"  said  Mr.  Toombs.] 

England,  my  friend  says.  Well,  that  is  the  next  best,  I  grant;  but  I 
think  we  have  improved  upon  England.  Statesmen  tried  their  'prentice 
hand  on  the  Government  of  England,  and  then  ours  was  made.  Ours 
sprung  from  that,  avoiding  many  of  its  defects,  taking  most  of  the  good, 
and  leaving  out  many  of  its  errors ;  and  from  the  whole  our  fathers  con 
structed  and  built  up  this  model  republic, — the  best  which  the  history  of 
the  world  gives  any  account  of.  Compare,  my  friends,  this  Government 
with  that  of  France,  Spain,  Mexico,  the  South  American  republics,  Ger 
many,  Ireland,  Prussia;  or,  if  you  travel  farther  east,  to  Turkey  or  China. 
Where  will  you  go,  following  the  sun  in  his  circuit  round  our  globe,  to 
find  a  government  that  better  protects  the  liberties  of  its  people  and  se- 


APPENDIX.  585 

cures  to  them  the  blessings  we  enjoy?  I  think  that  one  of  the  evils  that 
beset  us  is  a  surfeit  of  liberty,  an  exuberance  of  the  priceless  blessings 
for  which  we  are  ungrateful.  We  listened  to  my  honorable  friend  who 
addressed  you  last  night  [Mr.  Toombs]  as  he  recounted  the  evils  of  this 
Government.  The  first  was  the  fishing-bounties,  paid  mostly  to  the  sailors 
of  New  England.  Our  friend  stated  that  forty-eight  years  of  our  Govern 
ment  were  under  the  administration  of  Southern  Presidents.  Well,  these 
fishing-bounties  began  under  the  rule  of  a  Southern  President.  I  believe. 
No  one  of  them,  during  the  whole  forty-eight  years,  ever  set  his  Adminis 
tration  against  the  principle  or  policy  of  them.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say 
whether  it  was  a  wise  policy  in  the  beginning ;  it  probably  was  not,  and  I 
have  not  a  word  to  say  in  its  defence.  But  the  reason  given  for  it  was  to 
encourage  our  young  men  to  go  to  sea  and  learn  to  manage  ships.  We 
had  at  that  time  but  a  small  navy.  It  was  thought  best  to  encourage  a 
class  of  our  people  to  become  acquainted  with  seafaring  life ;  to  become 
sailors,  to  man  our  navy.  It  requires  practice  to  walk  the  deck  of  a  ship, 
to  pull  the  ropes,  to  furl  the  sails,  to  go  aloft,  to  climb  the  mast;  and  it 
was  thought  that  by  offering  this  bounty  a  nursery  might  be  formed  in 
which  young  men  would  become  perfected  in  these  arts,  and  it  applied  to 
one  section  of  the  country  as  well  as  another.  The  result  of  this  was.  that 
in  the  war  of  1812  our  sailors,  many  of  whom  came  from  this  nursery, 
were  equal  to  any  that  England  brought  against  us.  At  any  rate,  no 
small  part  of  the  glories  of  that  war  were  gained  by  the  veteran  tars  of 
America,  and  the  object  of  these  bounties  was  to  foster  that  branch  of  the 
national  defence.  My  opinion  is,  that  whatever  may  have  been  the  reason 
at  first,  this  bounty  ought  to  be  discontinued, — the  reason  for  it  at  first  no 
longer  exists.  A  bill  for  this  object  did  pass  the  Senate  the  last  Congress 
[  was  in,  to  which  my  honorable  friend  contributed  greatly,  but  it  was  not 
reached  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  I  trust  that  he  will  yet  see  that 
he  may  with  honor  continue  his  connection  with  the  Government,  and  that 
his  eloquence,  unrivalled  in  the  Senate,  may  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  be 
displayed  in  having  this  bounty,  so  obnoxious  to  him,  wiped  off  from  the 
statute-book. 

The  next  evil  that  my  friend  complained  of  was  the  tariff.  Well,  let  us 
look  at  that  for  a  moment.  About  the  time  I  commenced  noticing  public 
matters  this  question  was  agitating  the  country  almost  as  fearfully  as  the 
Slave  question  now  is.  In  1832,  when  I  was  in  college,  South  Carolina 
was  ready  to  nullify  or  secede  from  the  Union  on  this  account.  And  what 
have  we  seen?  The  tariff  no  longer  distracts  the  public  councils.  Reason 
has  triumphed.  The  present  tariff  was  voted  for  by  Massachusetts 
South  Carolina.  The  lion  and  the  lamb  lay  down  together, — every  man 
the  Senate  and  House  from  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina,  I  think, 
voted  for  it,  as  did  my  honorable  friend  himself.  And  if  it  be  true,  to  use 
the  figure  of  speech  of  my  honorable  friend,  that  every  man  in  the  North 
that  works  in  iron  and  brass  and  wood  has  his  muscle  strengthened  by 


tvhat 
ason 
and       / 
in  in    / 


586  APPENDIX. 

the  protection  of  the  Government,  that  stimulant  was  given  by  his  vote, 
and  I  believe  that  of  every  other  Southern  man.  So  we  ought  not  to 
complain  of  that. 

[Ma.  TOOMBS. — u  That  tariff  lessened  the  duties."] 

Yes,  and  Massachusetts,  with  unanimity,  voted  with  the  South  to  lessen 
them,  and  they  were  made  just  as  low  as  Southern  men  asked  them  to  be,' 
and  those  are  the  rates  they  are  now  at.  If  reason  and  argument  with 
experience  produced  such  changes  in  the  sentiments  of  Massachusetts  from 
1832  to  1857  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  may  not  like  changes  be  effected 
there  by  the  same  means,  reason  and  argument,  and  appeals  to  patriotism 
on  the  present  vexed  question?  And  who  can  say  that  by  1875  or  1890 
Massachusetts  may  not  vote  with  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  upon  all 
those  questions  that  now  distract  the  country  and  threaten  its  peace  and 
existence?  I  believe  in  the  power  and  efficiency  of  truth,  in  the  omnipo 
tence  of  truth,  and  its  ultimate  triumph  when  properly  wielded. 

Another  matter  of  grievance  alluded  to  by  my  honorable  friend  was  the 
navigation  laws.  This  policy  was  also  commenced  under  the  Administra 
tion  of  one  of  those  Southern  Presidents  who  ruled  so  well,  and  has  been 
continued- through  all  of  them  since.  The  gentleman's  views  of  the  policy 
of  these  laws  and  my  own  do  not  disagree.  We  occupied  the  same  ground 
in  relation  to  them  in  Congress.  It'  is  not  my  purpose  to  defend  them 
now.  But  it  is  proper  to  state  some  matters  connected  with  their  origin. 

One  of  the  objects  was  to  build  up  a  commercial  American  marine  by 
giving  American  bottoms  the  exclusive  carrying  trade  between  our  own 
ports.  This  is  a  great  arm  of  national  power.  The  object  was  accom 
plished.  We  have  now  an  amount  of  shipping  not  only  coastwise  but  to 
foreign  countries  which  puts  us  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  nations  of  the 
world.  England  can  no  longer  be  styled  the  mistress  of  the  seas.  What 
American  is  not  proud  of  the  result?  Whether  those  laws  should  be  con 
tinued  is  another  question.  But  one  thing  is  certain,  no  President,  Northern 
or  Southern,  has  ever  yet  recommended  their  repeal.  And  my  friend's 
effort  to  get  them  repealed  has  met  with  but  little  favor  North  or  South. 

These,  then,  were  the  three  grievances  or  grounds  of  complaint  against 
the  general  system  of  our  Government  and  its  workings :  I  mean  the 
administration  of  the  Federal  Government.  As  to  the  acts  of  several  of 
the  States  I  shall  speak  presently,  but  these  three  were  the  main  ones 
urged  against  the  common  head.  Now  suppose  it  be  admitted  that  all 
of  these  are  evils  in  the  system,  do  they  overbalance  and  outweigh  the 
advantages  and  great  good  which  this  same  Government  affords  in  a  thou 
sand  innumerable  ways  that  cannot  be  estimated?  Have  we  not  at  the 
South,  as  well  as  at  the  North,  grown  great,  prosperous,  and  happy  under^ 
its  operation  ?  Has  any  part  of  the  world  ever  shown  such  rapid  progress 
in  the  development  of  wealth  and  all  the  material  resources  of  national 
power  and  greatness  as  the  Southern  States  have  under  the  General 
Government,  notwithstanding  all  its  defects? 


APPENDIX.  587 

[MR.  TOOMBS.— "In  spite  of  it."] 

My  honorable  friend  says  we  have,  in  spite  of  the  General  Government ; 
that  without  it  I  suppose  he  thinks  we  might  have  done  as  well  or  perhaps 
better  than  we  have  done.  This  grand  result  is  in  spite  of  the  Govern 
ment?  That  may  be,  and  it  may  not  be ;  but  the  great  fact  that  we  have 
grown  great  and  powerful  under  the  Government  as  it  exists  is  admitted. 
There  is  no  conjecture  or  speculation  about  that;  it  stands  out  bold,  high, 
and  prominent  like  your  Stone  Mountain,  to  which  the  gentleman  alluded 
in  illustrating  home-facts  in  his  record, — this  great  fact  of  our  unrivalled 
prosperity  in  the  Union  as  it  is  is  admitted, — whether  all  this  is  in  spite 
of  the  Government, — whether  we  of  the  South  would  have  been  better  off 
without  the  Government,  is,  to  say  the  least,  problematical.  On  the  one 
side  we  can  only  put  the  fact  against  speculation  and  conjecture  on  the 
other.  But  even  as  a  question  of  speculation  I  differ  from  my  distin 
guished  friend.  What  we  would  have  lost  in  border  wars  without  the 
Union,  or  what  we  have  gained  simply  by  the  peace  it  has  secured,  is  not 
within  our  power  to  estimate.  Our  foreign  trade,  which  is  the  foundation 
of  all  our  prosperity,  has  the  protection  of  the  navy  which  drove  the 
pirates  from  the  waters  near  our  coast  where  they  had  been  buccaneering 
for  centuries  before,  and  might  have  been  still,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
American  navy  under  the  command  of  such  a  spirit  as  Commodore  Porter. 
Now  that  the  coast  is  clear,  that  our  commerce  flows  freely,  outwardly 
and  inwardly,  we  cannot  well  estimate  how  it  would  have  been  under 
other  circumstances.  The  influence  of  the  Government  on  us  is  like  that 
of  the  atmosphere  around  us.  Its  benefits  are  so  silent  and  unseen  that  •' 
they  are  seldom  thought  of  or  appreciated. 

We  seldom  think  of  the  single  element  of  oxygen  in  the  air  we  breathe, 
and  yet  let  this  simple  unseen  and  unfelt  agent  be  withdrawn,  this  life- 
giving  element  be  taken*  away  from  this  all-pervading  fluid  around  us,  and 
what  instant  and  appalling  changes  would  take  place  in  all  organic  creation  ! 

It  may  be  that  we  are  all  that  we  are  "  in  spite  of  the  General  Govern 
ment,"  but  it  may  be  that  without  it  we  should  have  been  far  different 
from  what  we  are  now.  It  is  true  there  is  no  equal  part  of  the  earth 
with  natural  resources  superior  to  ours.  That  portion  of  the  country 
known  as  the  Southern  States,  stretching  from  the  Chesapeake  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  is  fully  equal  to  the  picture  drawn  by  the  honorable  and  eloquent 
Senator  last  night  in  all  natural  capacities.  But  how  many  ages,  cen 
turies,  passed  before  these  capacities  were  developed  to  reach  this  advanced 
stage  of  civilization?  There  these  same  hills  rich  in  ore,  these  same 
rivers,  valleys,  and  plains,  are  as  they  have  been  since  they  came  from  the 
hand  of  the  Creator.  Uneducated  and  uncivilized  man  roamed  over  them, 
for  how  long  no  history  informs  us. 

It  was  only  under  our  institutions  that  they  could  be  developed.  Their 
development  is  the  result  of  the  enterprise  of  our  people  under  operations 
of  the  Government  and  institutions  under  which  we  have  lived.  Even 


588  APPENDIX. 

our  people,  without  these,  never  would  have"  done  it.  The  organization 
of  society  has  much  to  do  with  the  development  of  the  natural  resources 
of  any  country  or  any  land.  The  institutions  of  a  people,  political  and 
moral,  are  the  matrix  in  which  the  germ  of  their  organic  structure 
quickens  into  life,  takes  root,  and  develops  in  form,  nature,  and  character. 
Our  institutions  constitute  the  basis,  the  matrix,  from  which  spring  all 
our  characteristics  of  development  and  greatness.  Look  at  Greece  !  There 
is  the  same  fertile  soil,  the  same  blue  sky.  the  same  inlets  and  harbors,  the 
same  ^Egean,  the  same  Olympus, — there  is  the  same  land  where  Homer 
sang,  where  Pericles  spoke, — it  is  in  nature  the  same  old  Greece  5  but  it 
is  living  Greece  no  more! 

Descendants  of  the  same  people  inhabit  the  country ;  yet  what  is  the 
reason  of  this  mighty  difference  ?  In  the  midst  of  present  degradation  we 
see  the  glorious  fragments  of  ancient  works  of  art. — temples  with  ornaments 
and  inscriptions  that  excite  wonder  and  admiration,  the  remains  of  a  once 
high  order  of  civilization,  which  have  outlived  the  language  they  spoke. 
Upon  them  all  Ichabod  is  written, — their  glory  has  departed.  Why  is  this 
so?  I  answer,  their  institutions  have  been  destroyed.  These  were  but 
the  fruits  of  their  forms  of  government,  the  matrix  from  which  their  grand 
development  sprang ;  and  when  once  the  institutions  of  our  people  shall 
have  been  destroyed,  there  is  no  earthly  power  that  can  bring  back  the 
Promethean  spark  to  kindle  them  here  again,  any  more  than  in  that 
ancient  land  of  eloquence,  poetry,  and  song.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Italy.  Where  is  Rome,  once  the  mistress  of  the  world?  There  are  the 
same  seven  hills  now,  the  same  soil,  the  same  natural  resources ;  nature 
is  the  same  ;  but  what  a  ruin  of  human  greatness  meets  the  eye  of  the 
traveller  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  that  most  down-trodden 
land!  Why  have  not  the  people  of  that  Heaven-favored  clirne  the  spirit 
that  animated  their  fathers?  Why  this  sad  difference?  It  is  the  destruc 
tion  of  her  institutions  that  has  caused  it.  And,  my  countrymen,  if  we 
shall  in  an  evil  hour  rashly  pull  down  and  destroy  those  institutions, 
which  the  patriotic  hand  of  our  fathers  labored  so  long  and  so  hard  to 
build  up,  and  which  have  done  so  much  for  us  and  for  the  world,  who 
can  venture  the  prediction  that  similar  results  will  not  ensue?  Let  us 
avoid  them  if  we  can.  I  trust  the  spirit  is  among  us  that  will  enable  us 
to  do  it.  Let  us  not  rashly  try  the  experiment  of  change,  of  pulling  down 
and  destroying,  for,  as  in  Greece  and  Italy,  and  the  South  American 
republics,  and  in  every  other  place,  whenever  our  liberty  is  once  lost,  it 
may  never  be  restored  to  us  again. 

There  are  defects  in  our  Government,  errors  in  our  administration,  and 
shortcomings  of  many  kinds,  but  in  spite  of  these  defects  and  errors 
Georgia,  has  grown  to  be  a  great  State.  Let  us  pause  here  a  moment.  In 
1850  there  was  a  great  crisis,  but  not  so  fearful  as  this,  for  of  all  I  have 
ever  passed  through  this  is  the  most  perilous,  and  requires  to  be  met  with 
the  greatest  calmness  and  deliberation. 


APPENDIX.  589 

There  were  many  among  us  in  1850  zealous  to  go  at  once  out  of  the 
Union, — to  disrupt  every  tie  that  binds  us  together.  Now  do  you  believe, 
had  that  policy  been  carried  out  at  that  time,  we  would  have  been  the 
same  great  people  that  we  are  to-day?  It  may  be  that  we  would,  but 
have  you  any  assurance  of  that  fact?  Would  we  have  made  the  same 
advancement,  improvement,  and  progress  in  all  that  constitutes  material 
wealth  and  prosperity  that  we  have? 

I  notice  in  the  Comptroller-General's  report  that  the  taxable  property  of 
Georgia  is  six  hundred  and  seventy  million  dollars  and  upwards, — an 
amount  not  far  from  double  what  it  was  in  1850.  I  think  I  may  venture 
to  say  that  for  the  last  ten  years  the  material  wealth  of  the  people  of 
Georgia  has  been  nearly,  if  not  quite,  doubled.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  our  advance  in  education  and  everything  that  marks  our  civilization. 
Have  we  any  assurance  that  had  we  regarded  the  earnest  but  misguided 
patriotic  advice,  as  I  think,  of  some  of  that  day,  and  disrupted  the  ties  which 
bind  us  to  the  Union,  we  would  have  advanced  as  we  have?  I  think  not. 
Well,  then,  let  us  be  careful  now  before  we  attempt  any  rash  experiment" 
of  this  sort.  I  know  that  there  are  friends  whose  patriotism  I  do  not 
intend  to  question  who  think  this  Union  a  curse,  and  that  we  should  be 
better  off  without  it.  I  do  not  so  think  ;  if  we  can  bring  about  a  correc 
tion  of  those  evils  which  threaten, — and  I  am  not  without  hope  that  this 
may  yet  be  done, — this  appeal  to  go  out  with  all  the  promises  for  good 
that  accompany  it,  I  look  upon  as  a  great,  and,  I  fear,  a  fatal  temptation. 

When  I  look  around  and  see  our  prosperity  in  everything, — agriculture, 
commerce,  .art,  science,  and  every  department  of  progress,  physical,  moral, 
and  mental, — certainly,  in  the  face  of  such  an  exhibition,  if  we  can,  with- 
oui  the  loss  of  power,  or  any  essential  right  or  interest,  remain  in  the 
Union,  it  is  our  duty  to  ourselves  and  to  posterity  to  do  so.  Let  us  not 
unwisely  yield  to  this  temptation.  Our  first  parents,  the  great  progenitors 
of  the  human  race,  were  not  without  a  like  temptation  when  in  the  garden 
of  Eden.  They  were  led  to  believe  that  their  condition  would  be  bettered, 
that  their  eyes  would  be  opened,  and  that  they  would  become  as  gods. 
They  in  an  evil  hour  yielded, — instead  of  becoming  gods  they  only  saw 
their  own  nakedness. 

I  look  upon  this  country  with  our  institutions  as  the  Eden  of  the  world, 
the  Paradise  of  the  universe.  It  may  be  that  out  of  it  we  may  become 
greater  and  more  prosperous ;  but  I  am  candid  and  sincere  in  telling  you 
that  I  fear  if  we  yield  to  passion,  and  without  sufficient  cause  shall  take 
that  step,  instead  of  becoming  greater,  more  peaceful,  prosperous,  and 
happy, — instead  of  becoming  gods,  we  shall  become  demons,  and  at  no 
distant  day  commence  cutting  one  another's  throats.  This  is  my  appre 
hension.  Let  us,  therefore,  whatever  we  do,  meet  these  difficulties,  great 
as  they  are,  like  wise  and  sensible  men,  and  consider  them  in  the  light  of 
all  the  consequences  which  may  attend  our  action.  Let  us  see  first,  clearly, 
where  the  path  of  duty  leads,  and  then  we  may  not  fear  to  tread  therein. 


590  APPENDIX. 

I  come  now  to  the  main  question  put  to  me,  and  on  which  my  counsel 
has  been  asked.  That  is,  what  the  present  Legislature  should  do  in  view 
of  the  dangers  that  threaten  us,  and  the  wrongs  that  have  been  done  us 
by  several  of  our  confederate  States  in  the  Union,  by  the  acts  of  their 
Legislatures  nullifying  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  in  direct  disregard 
of  their  constitutional  obligations  ?  What  I  shall  say  will  not  be  in  the 
spirit  of  dictation.  It  will  simply  be  my  own  judgment  for  what  it  is 
worth.  It  proceeds  from  a  strong  conviction  that,  according  to  it,  our 
rights,  interest,  and  honor, — our  present  safety  and  future  security  can  be 
maintained  without  yet  looking  to  the  last  resort,  the  "ultima  ratio  regum." 
That  should  not  be  looked  to  until  all  else  fails.  That  may  come.  On 
this  point  I  am  hopeful,  but  not  sanguine.  But  let  us  use  every  patriotic 
effort  to  prevent  it  while  there  is  ground  for  hope. 

If  any  view  that  I  may  present,  in  your  judgment,  be  inconsistent  with 
...the  besjbjnterest  of  Georgia,  I  ask  you  as  patriots  not  to  regard  it.  After 
hearing  me  and  others  whom  you  have  advised  with,  act  in  the  premises 
according  to  your  own  convictions  of  duty  as  patriots.  I  speak  now  par 
ticularly  to  the  members  of  the  Legislature  present.  There  are,  as  I  have 
said,  great  dangers  ahead.  Great  dangers  may  come  from  the  election  I 
have  spoken  of.  If  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Republican  asso 
ciates  shall  be  carried  out,  or  attempted  to  be  carried  out,  no  man  in 
Georgia  will  be  more  willing  or  ready  than  myself  to  defend  our  rights, 
interest,  and  honor  at  every  hazard  and  to  the  last  extremity.  What  is 
this  policy?  It  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  exclude  us,  by  an  act  of  Congress, 
from  the  Territories,  with  our  slave  property.  He  is  for  using  the  power 
of  the  General  Government  against  the  extension  of  our  institutions. 
Our  position  on  this  point  is,  and  ought  to  be,  at  all  hazards,  for  perfect 
equality  between  all  the  States  and  the  citizens  of  all  the  States  in  the 
Territories,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  If  Congress 
should  exercise  its  power  against  this,  then  I  am  for  standing  where 
Georgia  planted  herself  in  1850.  These  were  plain  propositions  which 
were  there  laid  down  in  her  celebrated  platform  as  sufficient  for  the  dis 
ruption  of  the  Union  if  the  occasion  should  ever  come ;  on  these  Georgia 
.  has  declared  that  she  will  go  out  of  the  Union,  and  for  these  she  would  be 
justified  by  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  so  doing.  I  say  the  same ;  I  said 
it  then ;  I  say  it  now,  if  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  should  be  carried  out.  I 
have  told  you  that  I  do  not  think  his  bare  election  sufficient  cause ;  but  if 
his  policy  should  be  carried  out,  in  violation  of  any  of  the  principles  set 
forth  in  the  Georgia  platform,  that  would  be  such  an  act  of  aggression, 
which  ought  to  be  met  as  therein  provided  for.  If  his  policy  shall  be 
carried  out  in  repealing  or  modifying  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  so  as  to 
weaken  its  efficacy,  Georgia  has  declared  that  she  will,  in  the  last  resort, 
disrupt  the  ties  of  the  Union, — and  I  say  so  too.  I  stand  upon  the  Georgia 
platform  and  upon  every  plank  in  it ;  and  if  these  aggressions  therein 
provided  for  take  place,  I  say  to  you  and  to  the  people  of  Georgia,  Be 


APPENDIX.  591 

ready  for  the  assault  when  it  comes  ;  keep  your  powder  dry,  and  let  your 
assailants  then  have  lead,  if  need  be.  I  would  wait  for  an  act  of  aggres 
sion.  That  is  my  position. 

Now,  upon  another  point,  and  that  the  most  difficult  and  deserving  your4 
most  serious  consideration,  I  will  speak.  That  is  the  course  which  this 
State  should  pursue  toward  those  Northern  States  which,  by  their  legisla 
tive  acts,  have  attempted  to  nullify  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  I  know  that 
in  some  of  these  States  their  acts,  pretended  to  be  based  upon  the  princi 
ples  set  forth  in  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
in  the  case  of  Prigg  against  Pennsylvania;  that  decision  did  proclaim  the 
doctrine  that  the  State  officers  are  not  bound  to  carry  out  the  provisions 
of  a  law  of  Congress ;  that  the  Federal  Government  cannot  impose  duties 
upon  State  officials ;  that  they  must  execute  their  own  laws  by  their  own 
officers.  And  this  may  be  true.  But  still  it  is  the  duty  of  the  States  to 
deliver  fugitive  slaves,  as  well  as  it  is  the  duty  of  the  General  Government 
to  see  that  it  is  done. 

The  Northern  States,  on  entering  into  the  Federal  compact,  pledged  them 
selves  to  surrender  such  fugitives ;  and  it  is  in  disregard  of  their  constitu 
tional  obligations  that  they  have  passed  laws  which  even  tend  to  hinder  or 
inhibit  the  fulfilment  of  that  obligation.  They  have  violated  their  plighted 
faith.  What  ought  we  to  do  in  view  of  this?  That  is  the  question. 
What  is  to  be  done?  By  the  law  of  nations  you  would  have  a  right  to 
demand  the  carrying  out  of  this  article  of  agreement,  and  I  do  not  see 
that  it  should  be  otherwise  with  respect  _  to  the  States  of  this  Union  ;  and 
in  case  it  be  not  done,  we  would,  by  these  principles,  have  the  right  to 
commit  acts  of  reprisal  on  these  faithless  governments,  and  seize  u-pon 
their  property,  or  that  of  their  citizens,  wherever  found.  The  States  of 
this  Union  stand  upon  the  same  footing  with  foreign  nations  in  this  respect. 
But  by  the  law  of  nations  we  are  equally  bound,  before  proceeding  to 
violent  measures,  to  set  forth  our  grievances  before  the  offending  govern 
ment,  to  give  them  an  opportunity  to  redress  the  wrong.  Has  our  State 
yet  done  this?  I  think  not. 

Suppose  it  were  Great  Britain  that  had  violated  some  compact  of  agree 
ment  with  the  General  Government,  what  would  be  first  done?  In  that 
case  our  Minister  would  be  directed  in  the  first  instance  to  bring  the  mat 
ter  to  the  attention  of  that  Government,  or  a  commissioner  be  sent  to  that 
country  to  open  negotiations  with  her,  ask  for  redress,  and  it  would  only 
be  after  argument  and  reason  had  been  exhausted  in  vain  that  we  would 
take  the  last  resort  of  nations.  That  would  be  the  course  toward  a  foreign 
Government;  and  toward  a  member  of  this  Confederacy  I  would  recom 
mend  the  same  course.  Let  us  not,  therefore,  act  hastily  or  ill-temperedly 
in  this  matter.  Let  your  Committee  on  the  state  of  the  Republic  make  out 
a  bill  of  grievances ;  let  it  be  sent  by  the  Governor  to  those  faithless 
States :  and  if  reason  and  argument  shall  be  tried  in  vain, — if  all  shall 
fail  to  induce  them  to  return  to  their  constitutional  obligations,  I  would 


592  APPENDIX. 

be  for  retaliatory  measures,  such  as  the  Governor  has  suggested  to  you. 
This  mode  of  resistance  in  the  Union  is  in  our  power.  It  might  be 
effectual;  and  in  the  last  resort  we  would  be  justified  in  the  eyes  of 
nations,  not  only  in  separating  from  them,  but  in  using  force. 

[A  voice. — '•  The  argument  is  already  exhausted."] 

Some  friend  says  that  the  argument  is  already  exhausted.  No,  my 
friend,  it  is  not.  You  have  never  called  the  attention  of  the  Legislatures 
of  those  States  to  this  subject  that  I  am  aware  of.  Nothing  on  this  line 
has  ever  been  done  before  this  year.  The  attention  of  our  own  people 
has  been  called  to  the  subject  lately.  w 

Now,  then,  my  recommendation  to  you  would  be  this :  In  view  of  all 
these  questions  of  difficulty,  let  a  convention  of  the  people  of  Georgia  be 
called,  to  which  they  may  all  be  referred.  Let  the  sovereignty  of  the  / 
people  speak.  Some  think  that  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  cause  suffi 
cient  to  dissolve  the  Union.  Some  think  those  other  grievances  are  suffi 
cient  to  dissolve  the  same,  and  that  the  Legislature  has  the  power  thus  to 
act,  and  ought  thus  to  act.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  Legis 
lature  is  not  the  proper  body  to  sever  our  federal  relations,  if  that  neces 
sity  should  arise.  An  honorable  and  distinguished  gentleman,  the  other 
night  (Mr.  T.  11.  R.  Cobb),  advised  you  to  take  this  course, — not  to  wait 
to  hear  from  the  cross-roads  and  groceries. 

I  say  to  you  you  have  no  power  so  to  act.  You  must  refer  this  question 
to  the  people,  and  you  must  wait  to  hear  from  the  men  at  the  cross-roads  and 
even  the  groceries  ;  for  the  people  of  this  country,  whether  at  the  cross 
roads  or  groceries,  whether  in  cottages  or  palaces,  are  all  equal,  and  they 
are  the  sovereigns  in  this  country.  Sovereignty  is  not  in  the  Legislature. 
We,  the  people,  are  sovereigns.  I  am  one  of  them,  and  have  a  right  to 
be  heard ;  and  so  has  every  other  citizen  of  the  State.  You  legislators — I 
speak  it  respectfully — are  but  our  servants.  You  are  the  servants  of  the 
people,  and  not  their  masters.  Power  resides  with  the  people  in  this 
country.  The  great  difference  between  our  country  and  all  others,  such  as 
France  and  England  and  Ireland,  is,  that  here  there  is  popular  sovereignty, 
while  there  sovereignty  is  exercised  by  kings  and  favored  classes.  This 
principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  however  much  derided  lately,  is  the 
foundation  of  our  institutions.  Constitutions  are  but  the  channels  through 
which  the  popular  will  may  be  expressed.  Our  Constitution  came  from 
the  people.  They  made  it,  and  they  alone  can  rightfully  unmake  it. 

[MR.  TOOMBS. — "  I  am  afraid  of  conventions."] 

I  am  not  afraid  of  any  convention  legally  chosen  by  the  people.  I 
know  no  way  to  decide  great  questions  affecting  fundamental  laws  except 
by  representatives  of  the  people.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
was  made  by  the  representatives  of  the  people  in  convention.  The  consti 
tution  of  the  State  of  Georgia  was  made  by  representatives  of  the  people  in 
convention,  chosen  at  the  ballot-box.  Let  us,  therefore,  now  have  a  conven 
tion  chosen  by  the  people.  But  do  not  let  the  question  which  comes  before 


APPENDIX  593 

the  people  be  put  to  them  in  the  language  of  my  honorable  friend  who 
addressed  you  last  night:  "  Will  you  submit  to  abolition  rule  or  resist?" 

[MR.  TOOMBS. — "  I  do  not  wish  the  people  to  be  cheated."] 

Now,  my  friends,  how  are  we  going  to  cheat  the  people  by  calling  on 
them  to  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  to  decide  all  these  questions,  with 
out  any  dictation  or  direction?  Who  proposes  to  cheat  the  people  by  letting 
them  speak  their  own  untrammelled  views  in  the  choice  of  their  ablest  and 
best  men,  to  determine  upon  all  these  matters  involving  their  peace  ? 

I  think  the  proposition  of  my  honorable  friend  had  a  considerable  smack 
of  unfairness,  not  to  say  cheat.  He  wishes  to  have  no  convention,  but  for 
the  Legislature  to  submit  this  question  to  the  people,  "submission  to 
abolition  rule  or  resistance."  Now,  who  in  Georgia  would  vote  "submis 
sion  to  abolition  rule"  ? 

Is  putting  such  a  question  to  the  people  to  vote  on  a  fair  way  of  getting 
an  expression  of  the  popular  will  on  thes~e  questions  ?  I  think  not.  Now, 
who  in  Georgia  is  going  to  submit  to  abolition  rule  ? 

[MR.  TOOMBS. — "  The  convention  will."] 

No,  my  friend,  Georgia  will  not  do  it.  The  convention  will  not  recede 
from  the  Georgia  platform.  Under  that  there  can  be  no  abolition  rule  in 
the  General  Government.  I  am  not  afraid  to  trust  the  people  in  convention 
upon  this  and  all  other  questions.  Besides,  the  Legislature  was  not  elected 
for  such  a  purpose.  They  came  here  to  do  their  duty  as  legislators. 
They  have  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  They 
did  not  come  here  to  disrupt  this  Government.  I  am,  therefore,  for  sub 
mitting  all  these  questions  to  a  convention  of  the  peeple.  To  submit  these 
questions  to  the  people  whether  they  wTould  submit  to  abolition  rule  or 
resist,  and  then  for  the  Legislature  to  act  on  that  vote,  would  be  an  insult 
to  the  people. 

But  how  will  it  be  under  this  arrangement  if  they  should  vote  to  resist, 
and  the  Legislature  should  re-assemble  with  this  vote  as  their  instructions? 
Can  any  man  tell  what  sort  of  resistance  will  be  meant?  One  man  would 
say,  secede ;  another,  pass  retaliatory  measures, — these  are  measures  of 
resistance  against  wrong,  legitimate  and  right, — and  there  would  be  as 
many  different  ideas  as  there  are  members  on  this  floor.  Resistance  don't 
mean  secession, — that  is  no  proper  sense  of  the  term  resistance.  Believing 
that  the  times  require  action,  I  am  for  presenting  the  question  fairly  to  the 
people,  for  calling  together  an  untrammelled  convention,  and  presenting 
all  the  questions  to  them  whether  they  will  go  out  of  the  Union,  or  what 
course  of  resistance  in  the  Union  they  may  think  best,  and  then  let  the 
Legislature  act,  when  the  people  in  their  majesty  are  heard,  and  I  tell  you 
now,  whatever  that  convention  does,  I  hope  and  trust  our  people  will  abide 
by.  I  advise  the  calling  of  a  convention,  with  the  earnest  desire  to  pre 
serve  the  peace  and  harmony  of  tlie  State.  I  should  dislike  above  all 
things  to  see  violent  measures  adopted,  or  a  disposition  to  take  the  sword 
in  hand,  by  individuals,  without  the  authority  of  law. 

38 


594  APPENDIX. 

My  honorable  friend  said  last  night,  u  I  ask  you  to  give  ine  the  sword; 
for  if  you  do  not  give  it  to  me,  as  God  lives,  I  will  take  it  myself." 

[MR.  TOOMBS.— "I  will."] 

I  have  no  doubt  that  my  honorable  friend  feels  as  he  says.  It  is  only 
his  excessive  ardor  that  makes  him  use  such  an  expression  ;  but  this  will 
pass  off  with  the  excitement  of  the  hour.  "When  the  people  in  their 
majesty  shall  speak,  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  bow  to  their  will,  whatever  it 
may  be,  upon  the  "  sober  second  thought." 

Should  Georgia  determine  to  go  out  of  the  Union,  I  speak  for  one, 
though  my  views  might  not  agree  with  them,  whatever  the  result  may  be, 
I  shall  bow  to  the  will  of  the  people.  Their  cause  is  my  cause,  and  their 

C  destiny  is  my  destiny,  and  I  trust  this  will  be  the  ultimate  course  of  all. 
The  greatest  curse  that  can  befall  a  free  people  is  civil  war. 

But,  as  I  said,  let  us  call  a  convention  of  the  people.  Let  all  these 
matters  be  submitted  to  it,  and  when  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people 
has  thus  been  expressed,  the  whole  State  will  present  one  unanimous  voice 
in  favor  of  whatever  may  be  demanded  ;  for  I  believe  in  the  power  of  the 
people  to  govern  themselves,  when  wisdom  prevails  and  passion  does  not 
control  their  actions.  Look  at  what  has  already  been  done  by  them  in 
their  advancement  in  all  that  ennobles  man  !  There  is  nothing  like  it  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Look  abroad  from  one  extent  of  the  country 
to  the  other  ;  contemplate  our  greatness.  We  are  now  among  the  first 
nations  of  the  earth.  Shall  it  be  said,  then,  that  our  institutions,  founded 
upon  the  principles  of  self-government,  are  a  failure? 

Thus  far,  it  is  a  noble  example,  worthy  of  imitation.  The  gentleman 
[Mr.  Cobb],  the  other  night,  said  it  had  proven  a  failure.  A  failure  in 
what?  In  growth?  Look  at  our  expanse  in  national  power.  Look  at 
our  population  and  increase  in  all  that  makes  a  people  great.  A  failure ! 
Why,  we  are  the  admiration  of  the  civilized  world,  and  present  the  brightest 
hopes  of  mankind. 

Some  of  our  public  men  have  failed  in  their  aspirations,  that  is  true;  and 
from  that  comes  a  great  part  of  our  troubles. 

No;  there  is  no  failure  of  this  Government  yet.  We  have  made  great 
advancement  under  the  Constitution,  and  I  cannot  but  hope  that  we  shall 
advance  higher  still.  Let  us  be  true  to  our  trust. 

Now,  when  this  convention  assembles,  if  it  shall  be  called,  as  I  hope  it 
may,  I  would  say,  in  my  judgment,  without  dictation,  for  I  am  conferring 
with  you  freely  and  frankly,  and  it  is  thus  that  I  give  my  views,  it  should 
take  into  consideration  all  those  questions  which  distract  the  public  mind  ; 
should  view  all  the  grounds  of  secession  so  far  as  the  election  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  is  concerned;  and  I  can  but  hope,  if  reason  is  unbiassed  by  passion, 
that  they  would  say  that  the  constitutional  election  of  no  man  is  a  suffi 
cient  cause  to  break  up  the  Union,  but  that  the  State  should  wait  until  he 
at  least  does  commit  some  unconstitutional  act. 

[Mr.  TOOMBS. — "  Commit  some  overt  act?"] 


APPENDIX.  595 

No ;  I  did  not  say  that.  The  word  overt  is  a  sort  of  technical  term  con 
nected  with  treason  which  has  come  to  us  from  the  mother-country,  and  it 
means  an  open  act  of  rebellion.  I  do  not  see  how  Mr.  Lincoln  can  do  this 
unless  he  should  levy  war  upon  us.  I  do  not,  therefore,  use  the  word  overt. 
I  do  not  intend  to  wait  for  that.  But  I  use  the  word  unconstitutional  act, 
which  our  people  understand  much  better,  and  which  expresses  just  what 
I  mean.  But  as  long  as  he  conforms  to  the  Constitution  he  should  be  left 
to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  office. 

In  giving  this  advice,  I  am  but  sustaining  the  Constitution  of  my  coun 
try,  and  I  do  not  thereby  become  a  "Lincoln  aid  man"  either,  but  a  con 
stitutional  aid  man.  But  this  matter  the  convention  can  determine. 

As  to  the  other  matter,  I  think  we  have  a  right  to  pass  retaliatory  meas 
ures,  provided  they  be  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  and  I  think  they  can  be  made  so.  But  whether  it  would  be  wise 
for  this  Legislature  to  do  this  now  is  the  question.  To  the  convention,  in 
my  judgment,  this  matter  ought  to  be  referred.  Before  making  reprisals, 
we  should  exhaust  every  means  of  bringing  about  a  peaceful  settlement  of 
the  controversy.  Thus  did  General  Jackson  in  the  case  of  the  French. 
He  did  not  recommend  reprisals  until  he  had  treated  with  Franco  and  got 
her  to  promise  to  make  indemnification,  and  it  was  only  on  her  refusal  to 
pay  the  money  which  she  had  promised  that  he  recommended  reprisals.  It 
was  after  negotiation  had  failed.  I  do  think,  therefore,  that  it  would  be 
best,  before  going  to  extreme  measures  with  our  confederate  States,  to 
make  the  presentation  of  our  demands,  to  appeal  to  their  reason  and  judg 
ment  to  give  us  our  rights.  Then,  if  reason  should  not  triumph,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  commit  reprisals,  and  we  should  be  justified  in  the  eyes  of 
a  civilized  world.  At  least  let  these  offending  and  derelict  States  know 
what  your  grievances  are,  and  if  they  refuse,  as  I  said,  to  give  us  our 
rights  under  the  Constitution,  I  should  be  willing,  as  a  last  resort,  to  sever 
the  ties  of  our  union  with  them. 

My  own  opinion  is,  that  if  this  course  be  pursued,  and  they  are  informed 
of  the  consequences  of  refusal,  these  States  will  recede,  will  repeal  their 
nullifying  acts  ;  but  if  they  should  not,  then  let  the  consequences  be  with 
them,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  consequences  rest  upon  them.  Another 
thing  I  would  have  that  convention  to  do.  Reaffirm  the  Georgia  platform 
with  an  additional  plank  in  it.  Let  that  plank  be  the  fulfilment  of  these 
constitutional  obligations  on  the  part  of  those  States, — their  repeal  of  these 
obnoxious  laws  as  the  condition  of  our  remaining  in  the  Union.  Give 
them  time  to  consider  it;  and  I  would  ask  all  States  South  to  do  the  same 
thing. 

I  am  for  exhausting  all  that  patriotism  demands  before  taking  the  last 
step.  I  would  invite,  therefore,  South  Carolina  to  a  conference.  I  would 
ask  the  same  of  all  the  Southern  States,  so  that  if  the  evil  has  got  beyond 
our  control,  which  God  in  His  mercy  grant  may  not  be  the  case,  we  may 
not  be  divided  among  ourselves ;  but,  if  possible,  secure  the  united  co-opera- 


596  APPENDIX. 

tion  of  all  the  Southern  States,  and  then  in  the  face  of  the  civilized  world 
we  may  justify  our  action,  and  with  the  wrong  all  on  the  other  side,  we 
can  appeal  to  the  God  of  battles,  if  it  conies  to  that,  to  aid  us  in  our  cause. 
But  do  nothing  in  which  any  portion  of  our  people  may  charge  you  with 
rash  or  hasty  action.  It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  tear 
this  Government  asunder.  You  were  not  sent  here  for  that  purpose.  I 
would  wish  the  whole  South  to  be  united  if  this  is  to  be  done  ;  and  I  be 
lieve  if  we  pursue  the  policy  which  I  have  vindicated,  this  can  be  effected. 

In  this  way  our  sister  Southern  States  can  be  induced  to  act  with  us; 
and  I  have  but  little  doubt  that  the  States  of  New  York.  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  and  the  other  Western  States  will  compel  their  Legislatures  to  recede 
from  their  hostile  attitude,  if  the  others  do  not.  Then,  with  these,  we 
would  go  on  without  New  England,  if  she  chose  to  stay  out. 

[A  voice. — "  We  will  kick  them  out.:'] 

No ;  I  would  not  kick  them  out.  But  if  they  chose  to  stay  out,  they 
might.  I  think,  moreover,  that  these  Northern  States,  being  principally 
engaged  in  manufactures,  would  find  that  they  had  as  much  interest  in  the 
Union  under  the  Constitution  as  we,  and  that  they  would  return  to  their 
constitutional  duty, — this  would  be  my  hope.  If  they  should  not,  and  if 
the  Middle  States  and  Western  States  do  not  join  us,  we  should  at  least 
have  an  undivided  South.  I  am,  as  you  clearly  perceive,  for  maintaining 
the  I'liion  us  it  is  if  possible.  T  will  exhaust  every  means  thus,  to  main 
tain  it  with  an  equality  in  it. 

My  position,  then,  in  conclusion,  is  for  the  maintenance  of  the  honor,  the 
rights,  the  equality,  the  security,  and  the  glory  of  my  native  State  in  the 
Union  if  possible ;  but  if  these  cannot  be  maintained  in  the  Union,  then  I 
am  for  their  maintenance,  at  all  hazards,  out  of  it.  Next  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  Georgia,  the  land  of  my  birth,  I  hold  the  honor  and  glory  of  our 
common  country.  In  Savannah  I  was  made  to  say  by  the  reporters,  who 
very  often  make  me  say  things  which  I  never  did,  that  I  was  first  for  the 
glory  of  the  whole  country  and  next  for  that  of  Georgia.  I  said  the  exact 
reverse  of  this.  I  am  proud  of  her  history,  of  her  present  standing.  I 
am  proud  even  of  her  motto,  which  I  would  have  duly  respected  at  the 
present  time  by  all  her  sons, — "  Wisdom,  Justice,  and  Moderation."  I 
would  have  her  rights  and  those  of  the  Southern  States  maintained  now 
upon  these  principles.  Her  position  now  is  just  what  it  was  in  1850,  with 
respect  to  the  Southern  States.  Her  platform  then  established  was  subse 
quently  adopted  by  most,  if  not  all,  the  other  Southern  States.  Now  I 
would  add  but  one  additional  plank  to  that  platform,  which  I  have  stated, 
and  one  which  time  has  shown  to  be  necessary ;  and  if  that  shall  likewise 
be  adopted  in  substance  by  all  the  Southern  States,  all  may  yet  be  well. 
But  if  aTJ  this  fails,  we  shall  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
we  have  done  our  duty  and  all  that  patriotism  could  require. 


APPENDIX  0. 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  GEORGIA. 

Delivered  February  22d,  18G6. 
GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  : 

I  appear  before  you  in  answer  to  your  call.  This  call,  coming  in  the 
imposing  form  it  does,  and  under  the  circumstances  it  does,  requires  a 
response  from  me.  You  have  assigned  to  me  a  very  high,  a  very  honor 
able  and  responsible  position.  This  position  you  know  I  did  not  seek. 
Most  willingly  would  I  have  avoided  it ;  and  nothing  but  an  extraordinary 
sense  of  duty  could  have  induced  me  to  yield  my  own  disinclinations  and 
aversions  to  your  wishes  and  judgment  in  the  matter.  For  this  unusual 
manifestation  of  esteem  and  confidence  I  return  you  my  profoundest 
acknowledgments  of  gratitude.  Of  one  thing  only  can  I  give  you  any 
assurance,  and  that  is,  if  I  shall  be  permitted  to  discharge  the  trusts 
thereby  imposed,  they  will  be  discharged  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  to 
the  public  good. 

The  great  object  with  me  now  is  to  see  a  restoration,  if  possible, .of 
peace,  prosperity,  and  constitutional  liberty  in  this  once  happy,  but  now 
disturbed,  agitated,  and  distracted  country.  To  this  end  all  my  energies 
and  efforts,  to  the  extent  of  their  powers,  will  be  devoted. 

You  ask  my  views  on  the  existing  state  of  affairs ;  our  duties  at  the 
present,  and  the  prospects  of  the  future.  This  is  a  task  from  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  I  might  very  well  shrink.  He  who  ventures  to  speak, 
and  to  give  counsel  and  advice  in  times  of  peril,  or  disaster,  assumes  no 
enviable  position.  Far  be  that  rashness  from  me  which  sometimes  prompts 
the  forward  to  rush  in  where  angels  might  fear  to  tread.  In  responding, 
therefore,  briefly  to  your  inquiries,  I  feel,  I  trust,  the  full  weight  and 
magnitude  of  the  subject.  It  involves  the  welfare  of  millions  now  living, 
and  that  of  many  more  millions  who  are  to  come  after  us.  I  am  also  fully 
impressed  with  the  consciousness  of  the  inconceivably  small  effect  of  what 
I  shall  say  upon  the  momentous  results  involved  in  the  subject  itself, 

It  is  with  these  feelings  I  offer  my  mite  of  counsel  at  your  request.  And 
in  the  outset  of  the  undertaking,  limited  as  it  is  intended  to  be  to  a  few 
general  ideas  only,  well  may  I  imitate  an  illustrious  example  in  invoking 
aid  from  on  high ;  "  that  I  may  say  nothing  on  this  occasion  which  may 
compromit  the  rights,  the  honor,  the  dignity,  or  best  interests  of  my 

597 


598  APPENDIX. 

country."  I  mean  specially  the  rights,  honor,  dignity,  and  best  interests 
of  the  people  of  Georgia.  With  their  sufferings,  their  losses,  their  mis 
fortunes,  their  bereavements,  and  their  present  utter  prostration,  my  heart 
is  in  deepest  sympathy. 

We  have  reached  that  point  in  our  affairs  at  which  the  great  question 
before  us  is,  "To  be  or  not  to  be?" — and  if  to  be, — How?  Hope,  ever 
springing  in  the  human  breast,  prompts,  even  under  the  greatest  calami 
ties  and  adversities,  never  to  despair.  Adversity  is  a  severe  school,  a  ter 
rible  crucible :  both  for  individuals  and  communities.  We  are  now  in 
this  school,  this  crucible,  and  should  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  never  negative 
in  its  action.  It  is  always  positive.  It  is  ever  decided  in  its  effects,  one 
way  or  the  other.  It  either  makes  better  or  worse.  It  either  brings  out 
unknown  vices  or  arouses  dormant  virtues.  In  morals,  its  tendency  is  to 
make  saints  or  reprobates, — in  politics,  to  make  heroes  or  desperadoes. 
The  first  indication  of  its  working  for  good,  to  which  hope  looks  anxiously, 
is  the  manifestation  of  a  full  consciousness  of  its  nature  and  extent;  and 
the  most  promising  grounds  of  hope  for  possible  good  from  our  present 
troubles,  or  of  things  with  us  getting  better  instead  of  worse,  is  the  evi 
dent  general  realization,  on  the  part  of  our  people,  of  their  present  situa 
tion  :  of  the  evils  now  upon  them,  and  of  the  greater  ones  still  impending. 
These  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  exaggerate  if  I  could:  that  would  be  useless  ; 
nor  to  lessen  or  extenuate :  that  would  be  worse  than  useless.  All  fully 
understand  and  realize  them.  They  feel  them.  It  is  well  they  do. 

Can  these  evils  upon  us — the  absence  of  law,  the  want  of  protection  and 
security  of  person  and  property,  without  which  civilization  cannot  advance 
— be  removed  ?  or  can  those  greater  ones,  which  threaten  our  very  political 
existence,  be  averted?  These  are  the  questions. 

It  is  true  we  have  not  the  control  of  all  the  remedies,  even  if  these 
questions  could  be  satisfactorily  answered.  Our  fortunes  and  destiny  are 
not  entirely  in  our  own  hands.  Yet  there  are  some  things  that  we  may, 
and  can,  and  ought,  in  my  judgment,  to  do,  from  which  no  harm  can 
come,  and  from  which  some  good  may  follow,  in  bettering  our  present 
condition.  States  and  communities,  as  well  as  individuals,  when  they 
have  done  the  best  they  can  in  view  of  surrounding  circumstances,  with 
all  the  lights  they  have  before  them, — let  results  be  what  they  may, — can 
at  least  enjoy  the  consolation — no  small  recompense  that — of  having  per- 
1  formed  their  duty,  and  of  having  a  conscience  void  of  offence  before  God 
and  man.  This,  if  no  more  valuable  result,  will,  I  trust,  attend  the  doing 
of  what  I  propose. 

The  first  great  duty,  then,  I  would  enjoin  at  this  time  is  the  exercise 
of  the  simple,  though  difficult  and  trying,  but  nevertheless  indispensable 
quality  of  patience.  Patience  requires  of  those  afflicted  to  bear  and  to 
suffer  with  fortitude  whatever  ills  may  befall  them.  This  is  often,  and 
especially  is  it  the  case  with  us  now,  essential  for  their  ultimate  removal 
by  any  instrumentalities  whatever.  We  are  in  the  condition  of  a  man 


APPENDIX.  599 

with  a  dislocated  limb,  or  a  broken  leg,  and  a  very  bad  compound  fracture 
at  that.  How  it  became  broken  should  not  be  with  him  a  question  of  so 
much  importance  as  how  it  can  be  restored  to  health,  vigor,  and  strength. 
This  requires  of  him,  as  the  highest  duty  to  himself,  to  wait  quietly  and 
patiently  in  splints  and  bandages  until  nature  resumes  her  active  powers, 
— until  the  vital  functions  perform  their  office.  The  knitting  of  the  bones 
and  the  granulation  of  the  flesh  require  time ;  perfect  quiet  and  repose, 
even  under  the  severest  pain,  is  necessary.  It  will  not  do  to  make  too 
great  haste  to  get  well ;  an  attempt  to  walk  too  soon  will  only  make  the 
matter  worse.  We  must  or  ought  now,  therefore,  in  a  similar  manner  to 
discipline  ourselves  to  the  same  or  like  degree  of  patience.  I  know  the 
anxiety  and  restlessness  of  the  popular  mind  to  be  fully  on  our  feet  again, 
— to  walk  abroad  as  we  once  did, — to  enjoy  once  more  the  free  out-door  air 
of  heaven,  with  the  perfect  use  of  all  our  limbs.  I  know  how  trying  it  is 
to  be  denied  representation  in  Congress,  while  we  are  paying  our  proportion 
of  the  taxes,— how  annoying  it  is  to  be  even  partially  under  military  rule, 
— and  how  injurious  it  is  to  the  general  interest  and  business  of  the  country 
to  be  without  post-offices  and  mail  communications ;  to  say  nothing  of 
divers  other  matters  on  the  long  list  of  our  present  inconveniences  and 
privations.  All  these,  however,  we  must  patiently  bear  and  endure  for  a 
season.  With  quiet  and  repose  we  may  get  well, — may  get  once  more  on 
our  feet  again.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  bad  humor,  ill-temper,  exhibited 
either  in  restlessness  or  grumbling,  will  not  hasten  it. 

Next  to  this,  another  great  duty  we  owe  to  ourselves  is  the  exercise  of 
a  liberal  spirit  of  forbearance  among  ourselves. 

The  first  step  toward  local  or  general  harmony  is  the  banishment  from 
our  breasts  of  every  feeling  and  sentiment  calculated  to  stir  the  discords 
of  the  past.  Nothing  could  be  more  injurious  or  mischievous  to  the  future 
of  this  country  than  the  agitation,  at  present,  of  questions  that  divided 
the  people  anterior  to,  or  during  the  existence  of,  the  late  war.  On  no 
occasion,  and  especially  in  the  bestowment  of  office,  ought  such  differences 
of  opinion  in  the  past  ever  to  be  mentioned,  either  for  or  against  any  one 
otherwise  equally  entitled  to  confidence.  These  ideas  or  sentiments  of 
other  times  and  circumstances  are  not  the  germs  from  which  hopeful 
organizations  can  now  arise.  Let  all  differences  of  opinion,  touching 
errors,  or  supposed  errors,  of  the  head  or  heart,  on  the  part  of  any,  in  the 
past,  growing  out  of  these  matters,  be  at  once  in  the  deep  ocean  of 
oblivion  forever  buried.  Let  there  be  no  criminations  or  recriminations 
on  account  of  acts  of  other  days.  No  canvassing  of  past  conduct  or 
motives.  Great  disasters  are  upon  us  and  upon  the  whole  country,  and 
without  inquiring  how  these  originated,  or  at  whose  door  the  fault  should 
be  laid,  let  us  now  as  common  sharers  of  common  misfortunes,  on  all  occa 
sions,  consult  only  as  to  the  best  means,  under  the  circumstances  as  we 
find  them,  to  secure  the  best  ends  toward  future  amelioration.  Good 
government  is  what  we  want.  This  should  be  the  leading  desire  and  the 


600  APPENDIX. 

controlling  object  with  all ;  and  I  need  not  assure  you,  if  this  can  be 
obtained,  that  our  desolated  fields,  our  towns  and  villages,  and  cities  now 
in  ruins,  will  soon — like  the  Phoenix — rise  again  from  their  ashes ;  and  all 
our  waste  places  will  again,  at  no  distant  day,  blossom  as  the  rose. 

This  view  should  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  whatever  differences  of 
opinion  existed  before  the  late  fury  of  the  war,  they  sprung  mainly  from 
differences  as  to  the  best  means  to  be  used,  and  the  best  line  of  policy  to 
be  pursued,  to  secure  the  great  controlling  object  of  all, — which  was  GOOD 
GOVERNMENT.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  any 
in  the  late  most  lamentable  conflict  of  arms,  I  think  I  may  venture  safely 
to  say  that  there  was,  on  the  part  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Geor 
gia,  and  of  the  entire  South,  no  disloyalty  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  To  that  system  of  representative  government ; 
of  delegated  and  limited  powers;  that  establishment  in  a  new  phase,  on 
this  continent,  of  all  the  essentials  of  England's  Magna  C/iarta,  for  the 
protection  and  security  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  ;  with  the  additional 
recognition  of  the  principle  as  a  fundamental  truth,  that  all  political  power 
resides  in  the  people.  With  us  it  was  simply  a  question  as  to  where  our 
allegiance  was  due  in  the  maintenance  of  these  principles, — which  author 
ity  was  paramount  in  the  last  resort, — State  or  Federal.  As  for  myself,  I 
can  affirm  that  no  sentiment  of  disloyalty  to  these  great  principles  of  self- 
government,  recognized  and  embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  ever  beat  or  throbbed  in  breast  or  heart  of  mine.  To  tneir  main 
tenance  my  whole  soul  was  ever  enlisted,  and  to  this  end  my  whole  life 
has  heretofore  been  devoted,  and  will  continue  to  be  the  rest  of  my  days, 
— God  willing.  In  devotion  to  these  principles  I  yield  to  no  man  living. 
This  much  I  can  say  for  myself ;  may  I  not  say  the  same  for  you  and  for 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  for  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  entire  South?  Whatever  differences  existed  among  us  arose 
from  differences  as  to  the  best  and  surest  means  of  securing  these  great 
ends,  which  was  the  object  of  all.  It  was  with  this  view  and  this  purpose 
secession  was  tried.  That  has  failed.  Instead  of  bettering  our  condition, 
instead  of  establishing  our  liberties  upon  a  surer  foundation,  we  have,  in 
the  war  that  ensued,  come  well-nigh  losing  the  whole  of  the  rich  inherit 
ance  with  which  we  set  out. 

This  is  one  of  the  sad  realizations  of  the  present.  In  this,  too,  we  are 
but  illustrating  the  teachings  of  history.  Wars,  and  civil  wars  especially, 
always  menace  liberty ;  they  seldom  advance  it ;  while  they  usually  end 
in  its  entire  overthrow  and  destruction.  Ours  stopped  just  short  of  such 
a  catastrophe.  Our  only  alternative  now  is,  either  to  give  up  all  hope  of 
constitutional  liberty,  or  to  retrace  our  steps,  and  to  look  for  its  vindica 
tion  and  maintenance  in  the  forums  of  reason  and  justice,  instead  of  on 
the  arena  of  arms, — in  the  courts  and  halls  of  legislation,  instead  of  on  the 
fields  of  battle. 

I  am  frank  and  candid  in  telling  you  right  here  that  our  surest  hopes, 


APPENDIX. 

in  my  judgment,  of  these  ends,  are  in  the  restoration  policy  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  I  have  little  hope  for  liberty — little  hope  for 
the  success  of  the  great  American  experiment  of  self-government — but  in 
the  success  of  the  present  efforts  for  the  restoration  of  the  States  to  their 
former  practical  relations  in  a  common  government,  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

We  are  not  without  an  encouraging  example  on  this  line  in  the  history 
of  the  mother-country, — in  the  history  of  our  ancestors, — from  whom  we 
derived,  in  great  measure,  the  principles  to  which  we  are  so  much  devoted. 
The  truest  friends  of  liberty  in  England  once,  in  1642,  abandoned  the 
forum  of  reason,  and  appealed,  as  we  did,  to  the  sword,  as  the  surest 
means,  in  their  judgment,  of  advancing  their  cause.  This  was  after  they 
had  made  great  progress,  under  the  lead  of  Coke,  Hampden,  Falkland,  and 
others,  in  the  advancement  of  liberal  principles.  Many  usurpations  had 
been  checked  ;  many  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown  had  been  curtailed  ; 
the  petition  of  right  had  been  sanctioned ;  ship-money  had  been  abandoned ; 
courts-martial  had  been  done  away  with  ;  habeas  corpus  had  been  re-estab 
lished  ;  high  courts  of  commission  and  star-chamber  had  been  abolished; 
many  other  great  abuses  of  power  had  been  corrected,  and  other  reforms 
established.  But  not  satisfied  with  these,  and  not  satisfied  with  the  peace 
ful  working  of  reason,  to  go  on  in  its  natural  sphere,  the  denial  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Crown  was  pressed  by  the  too  ardent  reformers  upon 
Charles  the  First.  All  else  he  had  yielded, — this  he  would  not.  The  sword 
was  appealed  to  to  settle  the  question  ;  a  civil  war  was  the  result ;  great 
valor  and  courage  were  displayed  on  both  sides ;  men  of  eminent  virtue 
and  patriotism  fell  in  the  sanguinary  and  fratricidal  conflict ;  the  king  was 
deposed  and  executed;  a  commonwealth  proclaimed.  But  the  end  was  the 
reduction  of  the  people  of  England  to  a  worse  state  of  oppression  than  they 
had  been  in  for  centuries.  They  retraced  their  steps.  After  nearly  twenty 
years  of  exhaustion  and  blood,  and  the  loss  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
liberties  enjoyed  by  them  before,  they,  by  almost  unanimous  consent,  called 
for  restoration.  The  restoration  came.  Charles  the  Second  ascended  the 
throne,  as  unlimited  a  monarch  as  ever  ruled  the  empire.  Not  a  pledge 
was  asked  or  a  guaranty  given,  touching  the  concessions  of  the  royal  pre 
rogative,  that  had  been  exacted  and  obtained  from  his  father. 

The  true  friends  of  liberty,  of  reform  and  of  progress  in  government, 
had  become  convinced  that  these  were  the  offspring  of  peace  and  of  en 
lightened  reason,  and  not  of  passion  nor  of  arms.  The  House  of  Commons 
and  the  House  of  Lords  were  henceforth  the  theatres  of  their  operations, 
and  not  the  fields  of  Newberry  or  Marston-Moor.  The  result  was,  that  in 
less  than  thirty  years  all  their  ancient  rights  and  privileges,  which  had 
been  lost  in  the  civil  war,  with  new  securities,  were  re-established  in  the 
ever-memorable  settlement  of  1688 ;  which,  for  all  practical  purposes,  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  bloodless  revolution.  Since  that  time  England  has 
made  still  further  and  more  signal  strides  in  reform  and  progress.  But 


602 


APPENDIX. 


not  one  of  these  has  been  effected  by  resort  to  arms.  Catholic  emancipa 
tion  was  carried  in  Parliament,  after  years  of  argument,  against  the  most 
persistent  opposition.  Reason  and  justice  ultimately  prevailed.  So  with 
the  removal  of  the  disability  of  the  Jews, — so  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
rotten-borough  system, — so  with  the  extension  of  franchise, — so  with  the 
modification  of  the  corn-laws,  and  restrictions  on  commerce,  opening  the 
way  to  the  establishment  of  the  principles  of  free-trade, — and  so  with  all 
the  other  great  reforms  by  Parliament,  which  have  so  distinguished  English 
history  for  the  last  half-century. 

May  we  not  indulge  hope,  even  in  the  alternative  before  us  now,  from 
this  great  example  of  restoration,  if  we  but  do  as  the  friends  of  liberty 
there  did?  This  is  my  hope,  my  only  hope.  It  is  founded  on  the  virtue, 
intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  the  American  people.  I  have  not  lost  my 
faith  in  the  people,  or  in  their  capacity  for  self-government.  But  for  these 
great  essential  qualities  of  human  nature  to  be  brought  into  active  and 
efficient  exercise,  for  the  fulfilment  of  patriotic  hopes,  it  is  essential  that 
the  passions  of  the  day  should  subside ;  that  the  causes  of  these  passions 
should  not  now  be  discussed ;  that  the  embers  of  the  late  strife  shall  not 
be  stirred. 

Man  by  nature  is  ever  prone  to  scan  closely  the  errors  and  defects  of 
his  fellow-man, — ever  ready  to  rail  at  the  mote  in  his  brother's  eye,  with 
out  considering  the  beam  that  is  in  his  own.  This  should  not  be.  We  all 
have  our  motes  or  beams.  We  are  all  frail ;  perfection  is  the  attribute  of 
none.  Prejudice  or  prejudgment  should  be  indulged  toward  none.  Pre 
judice!  What  wrongs,  what  injuries  what  mischiefs,  what  lamentable 
consequences,  have  resulted  at  all  times  from  nothing  but  this  perversity 
of  the  intellect!  Of  all  the  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  truth  and 
human  progress,  in  every  department, — in  science,  in  art.  in  government, 
and  in  religion,  in  all  ages  and  climes, — not  one  on  the  list  is  more  formid 
able,  more  difficult  to  overcome  and  subdue,  than  this  horrible  distortion 
of  the  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  faculties.  It  is  a  host  of  evil  within 
itself.  I  could  enjoin  no  greater  duty  upon  my  countrymen  now,  North 
and  South,  than  the  exercise  of  that  degree  of  forbearance  which  would 
enable  them  to  conquer  their  prejudices.  One  of  the  highest  exhibitions 
of  the  moral  sublime  the  world  ever  witnessed  was  that  of  Daniel  Web 
ster,  when  in  an  open  barouche  in  the  streets  of  Boston  he  proclaimed  in 
substance,  to  a  vast  assembly  of  his  constituents, — unwilling  hearers, — that 
''  they  had  conquered  an  uncongenial  clime ;  they  had  conquered  a  sterile 
soil  5  they  had  conquered  the  winds  and  currents  of  the  ocean;  they  had 
conquered  most  of  the  elements  of  nature ;  but  they  must  yet  learn  to  con 
quer  their  prejudices  F'  I  know  of  no  more  fitting  incident  or  scene  in  the 
life  of  that  wonderful  man,  "  Clarus  et  vir  Fortissimus,''  for  perpetuating 
the  memory  of  the  true  greatness  of  his  character,  on  canvas  or  in  marble, 
than  a  representation  of  him  as  he  then  and  there  stood  and  spoke  !  It 
was  an  exhibition  of  moral  grandeur  surpassing  that  of  Aristides  when 


APPENDIX.  603 

he  said,  "  Oh,  Athenians,  whatThemistocles  recommends  would  be  greatly 
to  your  interest,  but  it  would  be  unjust  "  ! 

I  say  to  you,  and  if  my  voice  could  extend  throughout  this  vast  country, 
over  hill  arid  dale,  over  mountain  and  valley,  to  hovel,  hamlet,  and  man 
sion,  village,  town,  and  city,  I  would  say,  among  the  first,  looking  to  resto 
ration  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  harmony  in  this  land,  is  the  great  duty 
of  exercising  that  degree  of  forbearance  which  will  enable  them  to  conquer 
their  prejudices.  Prejudices  against  communities  as  well  as  individuals. 

And  next  to  that,  the  indulgence  of  a  Christian  spirit  of  charity.  "Judge 
not,  that  ye  be  not  judged,"  especially  in  matters  growing  out  of  the  late 
war.  Most  of  the  wars  that  have  scourged  the  world,  even  in  the  Christian 
era,  have  arisen  on  points  of  conscience,  or  differences  as  to  the  surest  way 
of  salvation.  A  strange  way  that  to  heaven,  is  it  not?  How  much  dis 
grace  to  the  church,  and  shame  to  mankind,  would  have  been  avoided  if 
the  ejaculation  of  each  breast  had  been,  at  all  times,  as  it  should  have  been, 

"  Let  not  this  weak,  unknowing  hand 

Presume  Thy  bolts  to  throw, 
And  deal  damnation  round  the  land, 
On  him  /  deem  Thy  foe." 

How  equally  proper  is  it  now,  when  the  spirit  of  peace  seems  to  be 
hovering  over  our  war-stricken  land,  that  in  canvassing  the  conduct  or 
motives  of  others  during  the  late  conflict,  this  great  truth  should  be 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  all, — 

"  Who  made  the  heart?     'Tis  He  alone 

Decidedly,  can  try  us ; 
He  knows  each  chord,  its  various  tone, 

Each  spring,  its  various  bias  ; 
Then  at  the  balance  let's  be  mute, 

We  never  can  adjust  it; 
What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 
But  know  not  what's  resisted." 

Of  all  the  heaven-descended  virtues  that  elevate  and  ennoble  human 
nature,  the  highest,  the  sublimest,  and  the  divinest  is  charity.  By  all 
means,  then,  fail  not  to  exercise  and  cultivate  this  soul-regenerating 
element  of  fallen  nature.  Let  it  be  cultivated  and  exercised  not  only 
among  ourselves  and  toward  ourselves,  on  all  questions  of  motive  or 
conduct  touching  the  late  war,  but  toward  all  mankind.  Even  toward 
our  enemies,  if  we  have  any,  let  the  aspirations  of  our  hearts  be,  "  Father, 
forgive  them;  they  know  not  what  they  do."  The  exercise  of  patience, 
forbearance,  and  charity,  therefore,  are  the  three  first  duties  I  would  at 
this  time  enjoin, — and  of  these  three,  "  the  greatest  is  charity." 

But  to  proceed.  Another  one  of  our  present  duties  is  this  :  we  should 
accept  the  issues  of  the  war,  and  abide  by  them  in  good  faith.  This,  I  feel 
fully  persuaded,  it  is  your  purpose  to  do,  as  well  as  that  of  your  constit- 


£04  APPENDIX. 

uents.  The  people  of  Georgia  have  in  convention  revoked  and  annulled  her 
ordinance  of  1861,  which  was  intended  to  sever  her  from  the  compact  of 
Union  of  1787.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  been  reordained 
as  the  organic  law  of  our  land.  Whatever  differences  of  opinion  heretofore 
existed  as  to  where  our  allegiance  was  due  during  the  late  state  of  things, 
none  for  any  practical  purpose  can  exist  now.  Whether  Georgia,  by  the 
action  of  her  Convention  of  1861,  was  ever  rightfully  out  of  the  Union  or 
not,  there  can  be  no  question  that  she  is  now  in,  so  far  as  depends  upon 
her  will  and  deed.  The  whole  United  States,  therefore,  are  now  without 
question  our  country,  to  be  cherished  and  defended  as  such  by  all  our 
hearts  and  by  all  our  arms. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  treaties  and  laws  made  in 
pursuance  thereof,  are  now  acknowledged  to  be  the  paramount  law  in  this 
whole  country.  Whoever,  therefore,  is  true  to  these  principles  as  now  rec 
ognized,  is  loyal  as  far  as  that  term  has  any  legitimate  use  or  force  under 
our  institutions.  This  is  the  only  kind  of  loyalty  and  the  only  test  of 
loyalty  the  Constitution  itself  requires.  In  any  other  view,  everything 
pertaining  to  restoration,  so  far  as  regards  the  great  body  of  the  people  in 
at  least  eleven  States  of  the  Union,  is  but  making  a  promise  to  the  ear  to 
be  broken  to  the  hope.  All,  therefore,  who  accept  the  issue  of  war  in 
good  faith,  and  corne  up  to  the  test  required  by  the  Constitution,  are  now 
loyal,  however  they  may  have  heretofore  been. 

But  with  this  change  comes  a  new  order  of  things.  One  of  the  results 
of  the  war  is  a  total  change  in  our  whole  internal  polity.  Our.  former 
social  fabric  has  been  entirely  subverted.  Like  those  convulsions  in 
nature  which  break  up  old  incrustations,  the  war  has  wrought  a  new 
epoch  in  our  political  existence.  Old  things  have  passed  away,  and  all 
things  among  us  in  this  respect  are  new.  The  relation  heretofore,  under 
our  old  system,  existing  between  the  African  and  European  races,  no 
longer. exists.  Slavery,  as  it  was  called,  or  the  status  of  the  black  race, 
their  subordination  to  the  white,  upon  which  all  our  institutions  rested,  is 
abolished  forever,  riot  only  in  Georgia,  but  throughout  the  limits  of  the 
United  States.  This  change  should  be  received  and  accepted  as  an  irrev 
ocable  fact.  It  is  a  bootless  question  now  to  discuss  whether  the  new 
system  is  better  for  both  races  than  the  old  one  was  or  not.  That  may 
be  proper  matter  for  the  philosophic  and  philanthropic  historian  at  some 
future  time  to  inquire  into,  after  the  new  system  shall  have  been  fully 
and  fairly  tried. 

All  changes  of  systems  or  proposed  reforms  are  but  experiments  and 
problems  to  be  solved.  Our  system  of  self-government  was  an  experiment 
at  first.  Perhaps  as  a  problem  it  is  not  yet  solved.  Our  present  duty  on 
this  subject  is  not  with  the  past  or  the  future  ;  it  is  with  the  present. 
The  wisest  and  the  best  often  err  in  their  judgments  as  to  the  probable 
workings  of  any  new  system.  Let  us,  therefore,  give  this  one  a  fair 
and  just  trial  without  prejudice,  and  with  that  earnestness  of  purpose 


APPENDIX.  605 

which  always  looks  hopefully  to  success.  It  is  an  ethnological  problem, 
on  the  solution  of  which  depends  not  only  the  best  interests  of  both  races, 
but  it  may  be  the  existence  of  one  or  the  other,  if  not  both. 

This  duty  of  giving  this  new  system  a  fair  and  just  trial  will  require 
of  you,  as  legislators  of  the  land,  great  changes  in  our  former  laws  in 
regard  to  this  large  class  of  population.  Wise  and  humane  provisions 
should  be  made  for  them.  It  is  not  for  me  to  go  into  detail.  Suffice  it  to 
say  on  this  occasion,  that  ample  and  full  protection  should  be  secured  to 
them,  so  that  they  may  stand  equal  before  the  law  in  the  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  all  rights  of  person,  liberty,  and  property.  Many  consider 
ations  claim  this  at  your  hands.  Among  these  may  be  stated  their  fidelity 
in  times  past.  They  cultivated  your  fields,  ministered  to  your  personal 
wants  and  comforts,  nursed  and  reared  your  children ;  and  even  in  the 
hour  of  danger  and  peril  they  were,  in  the  main,  true  to  you  and  yours. 
To  them  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude,  as  well  as  acts  of  kindness.  This 
should  also  be  done  because  they  are  poor,  untutored,  uninformed ;  many 
of  them  helpless,  liable  to  be  imposed  upon,  and  need  it.  Legislation 
should  ever  look  to  the  protection  of  the  weak  against  the  strong.  What 
ever  may  be  said  of  the  equality  of  races,  or  their  natural  capacity  to 
become  equal,  no  one  can  doubt  that  at  this  time  this  race  among  us  is 
not  equal  to  the  Caucasian.  This  inequality  does  not  lessen  the  moral 
obligations  on  the  part  of  the  superior  to  the  inferior,  it  rather  increases 
them.  From  him  who  has  much,  more  is  required  than  from  him  who 
has  little.  The  present  generation  of  them,  it  is  true,  is  far  above  their 
savage  progenitors,  who  were  at  first  introduced  into  this  country,  in 
general  intelligence,  virtue,  and  moral  culture.  This  shows  capacity  for 
improvement.  But  in.  all  the  higher  characteristics  of  mental  develop 
ment  they  are  still  very  far  below" the  European  type.  What  further 
advancement  they  may  make,  or  to  what  standard  they  may  attain,  under 
a  different  system  of  laws  every  way  suitable  and  wisely  applicable  to  their 
changed  condition,  time  alone  can  disclose.  I  speak  of  them  as  we  now 
know  them  to  be  ;  having  no  longer  the  protection  of  a  master,  or  legal 
guardian,  they  now  need  all  the  protection  which  the  shield  of  the  law 
can  give.- 

But,  above  all,  this  protection  should  be  secured,  because  it  is  right  and 
just  that  it  should  be,  upon  general  principles.  All  governments  in  their 
organic  structure,  as  well  as  in  their  administration,  should  have  this 
leading  object  in  view  :  the  good  of  the  governed.  Protection  and  security 
to  all  under  its  jurisdiction  should  be  the  chief  end  of  every  government. 
It  is  a  melancholy  truth  that  while  this  should  be  the  chief  end  of  all 
governments,  most  of  them  are  used  only  as  instruments  of  power,  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of,  and  by  the  oppression  of, 
the  many.  Such  are  not  our  ideas  of  government,  never  have  been,  and 
never  should  be.  Governments,  according  to  our  ideas,  should  look  to 
the  good  of  the  whole,  and  not  a  part  only.  "  The  greatest  good  to  the 


606  APPENDIX. 

greatest  number"  is  a  favorite  dogma  with  some.  Some  so  defended  our 
old  system.  But  you  know  this  was  never  my  doctrine.  The  greatest 
good  to  all,  without  detriment,  or  injury  to  any,  is  the  true  rule.  Those 
governments  only  are  founded  upon  correct  principles  of  reason  and 
justice  which  look  to  the  greatest  attainable  advancement,  improvement, 
and  progress,  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally,  of  all  classes  and 
conditions  within  their  rightful  jurisdiction.  If  our  old  system  was  not 
the  best,  or  could  not  have  been  made  the  best,  for  both  races,  in  this 
respect  and  upon  this  basis,  it  ought  to  have  been  abolished.  This  was 
my  view  of  that  system  while  it  lasted,  and  I  repeat  it  now  that  it  is  no 
more.  In  legislation,  therefore,  under  the  new  system,  you  should  look 
to  the  best  interest  of  all  classes:  their  protection,  security,  advancement, 
and  improvement,  physically,  intellectually,  and  morally.  All  obstacles 
if  there  be  any,  should  be  removed  which  can  possibly  hinder  or  retard 
the  improvement  of  the  blacks  to  the  extent  of  their  capacity.  All  proper 
aid  should  be  given  to  their  own  efforts.  Channels  of  education  should  be 
opened  up  to  them.  Schools,  and  the  usual  means  of  moral  and  intellectual 
training,  should  be  encouraged  among  them.  This  is  the  dictate,  not 
only  of  what  is  right  and  proper  and  just  in  itself,  but  it  is  also  the 
promptings  of  the  highest  considerations  of  interest.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  a  greater  evil  or  curse  that  could  befall  our  country,  stricken 
and  distressed  as  it  now  is,  than  for  so  large  a  portion  of  its  population, 
as  this  class  will  quite  probably  constitute  among  us  hereafter,  to  be 
reared  in  ignorance,  depravity,  and  vice.  In  view  of  such  a  state  of  things 
well  might  the  prudent  even  now  look  to  its  abandonment.  Let  us  not, 
however,  indulge  in  such  thoughts  of  the  future  ;  nor  let  us,  without  an 
effort,  say  the  system  cannot  be  worked.  Let  us  not,  standing  still, 
hesitatingly  ask,  "  Can  there  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?" 
but  let  us  rather  say,  as  Gamaliel  did,  "  If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be 
of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought :  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it ; 
lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to  fight  against  God."  The  most  vexed 
questions  of  the  age  are  social  problems.  These  we  have  heretofore  h*ad 
but  little  to  do  with  ;  we  were  relieved  from  them  by  our  peculiar  insti 
tution.  Emancipation  of  the  blacks,  with  its  consequences,  was  ever 
considered  by  me  with  much  more  interest  as  a  social  question,  one  re 
lating  to  the  proper  status  of  the  different  elements  of  society,  and  their 
relations  toward  each  other,  looking  to  the  best  interest  of  all,  than  in 
any  other  light.  The  pecuniary  aspect  of  it,  the  considerations  of  labor 
and  capital,  in  a  politico-economic  view,  sunk  into  insignificance  in  com 
parison  with  this.  This  problem,  as  one  of  the  results  of  the  war,  is  now 
upon  us,  presenting  one  of  the  most  perplexing  questions  of  the  sort  that 
any  people  ever  had  to  deal  with. 

Whether  the  great  barrier  of  races  which  the  Creator  has  placed  be 
tween  this,  our  inferior  class  and  ourselves,  shall  prevent  a  success  of  the 
experiment  now  on  trial,  of  a  peaceful,  happy,  and  prosperous  community, 


APPENDIX.  607 

composed  of  such  elements  and  sustaining  present  relations  toward  eacli 
other,  or  even  a  further  elevation  on  the  part  of  the  inferior,  if  they  prove 
themselves  fit  for  it,  let  the  future,  under  the  dispensations  of  Providence, 
decide.  Vie  have  to  deal  with  the  present.  Let  us  do  our  duty  now, 
leaving  results  and  ultimate  consequences  to  that 

"Divinity  which  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will." 

In  all  things  on  this  subject,  as  in  all  others,  let  our  guide  be  the  admira 
ble  motto  of  our  State.  Let  our  counsels  be  governed  by  wisdom,  our 
measures  by  moderation,  and  our  principles  by  justice. 

So  much  for  what  I  have  to  say  on  this  occasion  touching  our  present 
duties  on  this  absorbing  subject,  and  some  of  our  duties  in  reference  to  a 
restoration  of  peace,  law,  and  order ;  without  which  all  must,  sooner  or 
later,  end  in  utter  confusion,  anarchy,  and  despotism.  I  have,  as  I  said  I 
should,  only  glanced  at  some  general  ideas. 

Now  as  to  the  future  and  the  prospect  before  us  !  On  this  branch  of  the 
subject  I  can  add  but  little.  You  can  form  some  ideas  of  my  views  of  that 
from  what  has  already  been  said.  Would  that  I  could  say  something 
cheerful!  but  that  candor,  which  has  marked  all  that  I  have  said,  compels 
me  to  say  that  to  me  the  future  is  far  from  being  bright.  Nay,  it  is  dark 
and  impenetrable;  thick  gloom  curtains  and  closes  in  the  horizon  all 
around  us.  Thus  much  I  can  say  :  my  only  hope  is  in  the  peaceful  re-es 
tablishment  of  good  government,  and  its  peaceful  maintenance  afterward. 
And,  further,  the  most  hopeful  prospect  to  this  end  now  is  the  restora 
tion  of  the  old  Union,  and  with  it  the  speedy  return  of  fraternal  feeling 
throughout  its  length  and  breadth.  These  results  depend  upon  the  people 
themselves, — upon  the  people  of  the  North  quite  as  much  as  the  people  of 
the  South, — upon  their  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patriotism.  I  repeat,  I 
have  faith  in  the  American  people,  in  their  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patri 
otism.  But  for  this  I  should  long  since  have  despaired.  Dark  and  gloomy 
as  the  present  hour  is,  I  do  not  yet  despair  of  free  institutions.  Let  but 
the  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  the  people  throughout  the  whole 
country  be  properly  appealed  to,  aroused  and  brought  into  action,  and  all 
may  yet  be  well.  The  masses  everywhere  are  alike  equally  interested  in 
the  great  object.  Let  old  issues,  old  questions,  old  differences,  and  old 
feuds  be  regarded  as  fossils  of  another  epoch.  They  belong  to  what  may 
hereafter  be  considered  the  Silurian  period  of  our  history.  Great,  new, 
living  questions  are  before  us.  Let  it  not  be  said  of  us  in  this  day,  not 
yet  passed,  of  our  country's  greatest  trial  and  agony,  that  "  there  was  a 
party  for  Caesar,  a  party  for  Pompey,  and  a  party  for  Brutus,  but  no  party 
for  Rome." 

But  let  all  patriots,  by  whatever  distinctive  name  heretofore  styled, 
rally,  in  all  elections  everywhere,  to  the  support  of  him,  be  he  who  he 
may,  who  bears  the  .standard  with  "Constitutional  Union"  emblazoned 


608  APPENDIX. 

on  its  folds.  President  Johnson  is  now/ in  my  judgment,  the  chief  great 
standard-bearer  of  these  principles,  and  in  his  efforts  at  restoration  should 
receive  the  cordial  support  of  every  well-wisher  of  his  country. 

In  this  consists,  on  this  rests,  my  only  hope.  Should  he  be  sustained, 
and  the  Government  be  restored  to  its  former  functions,  all  the  States  brought 
back  to  their  practical  relations  under  the  Constitution,  our  situation  will 
be  greatly  changed  from  what  it  was  before.  A  radical  and  fundamental 
change,  as  has  been  stated,  has  been  made  in  that  organic  law.  We  shall 
have  lost  what  was  known  as  our  ''peculiar  institution,"  which  was  so 
intertwined  with  the  whole  framework  of  our  State  body  politic.  We 
shall  have  lost  nearly  half  the  accumulated  capital  of  a  century.  But  we 
shall  have  still  left  all  the  essentials  of  free  government,  contained  and 
embodied  in  the  old  Constitution,  untouched  and  unimpaired  as  they  came 
from  the  hands  of  our  fathers.  With  these,  even  if  we  had  to  begin  en 
tirely  anew,  the  prospect  before  us  would  be  much  more  encouraging  than 
the  prospect  was  before  them,  when  they  tied  from  the  oppressions  of  the 
Old  World  and  sought  shelter  and  homes  in  this  then  wilderness  land. 
The  liberties  we  begin  with  they  had  to  achieve.  With  the  same  energies 
and  virtues  they  displayed,  we  have  much  more  to  cheer  us  than  they  had. 
With  a  climate  unrivalled  in  salubrity ;  with  a  soil  unsurpassed  in  fer 
tility  ;  and  with  products  unequalled  in  value  in  the  markets  of  the  world, 
to  say  nothing  of  our  mineral  resources,  we  shall  have  much  still  to  wed 
us  to  the  good  old  land.  With  good  government,  the  matrix  from  which 
alone  spring  all  great  human  achievements,  we  shall  lack  nothing  but  our 
own  proper  exertions,  not  only  to  recover  our  former  prosperity,  but  to 
attain  a  much  higher  degree  of  development  in  everything  that  charac 
terizes  a  great,  free,  and  happy  people.  At  least  I  know  of  no  other  land 
that  the  sun  shines  upon  that  offers  better  prospects  under  the  contin 
gencies  stated. 

The  old  Union  was  based  upon  the  assumption  that  it  was  for  the  best 
interest  of  the  people  of  all  the  States  to  be  united  as  they  were,  each 
State  faithfully  performing  to  the  people  of  the  other  States  all  their 
obligations  under  the  common  compact.  I  always  thought  this  assump 
tion  was  founded  upon  broad,  correct,  and  statesman-like  principles.  I 
think  so  yet.  It  was  only  when  it  seemed  to  be  impossible  further  to 
maintain  it,  without  hazarding  greater  evils  than  would  perhaps  attend  a 
separation,  that  I  yielded  my  assent,  in  obedience  to  the  voice  of  Georgia, 
to  try  the  experiment  which  has  just  resulted  so  disastrously  to  us.  In 
deed,  during  the  whole  lamentable  conflict,  it  was  my  opinion  that  how 
ever  the  pending  strife  might  terminate,  so  far  as  the  appeal  to  the  sword 
was  concerned,  yet  after  a  while,  when  the  passions  and  excitements  of 
the  day  should  pass  away,  an  adjustment  or  arrangement  would  be  made 
upon  continental  principles,  upon  the  general  basis  of  "reciprocal  advan 
tage  and  mutual  convenience,"  on  which  the  Union  was  first  established. 
My  earnest  desire,  however,  throughout,  was  whatever  might  be  done, 


APPENDIX.  (309 

might  be  peaceably  done ;  might  be  the  result  of  calm,  dispassionate,  and 
enlightened  reason  ;  looking  to  the  permanent  interests  and  welfare  of 
all.  And  now,  after  the  severe  chastisement  of  war,  if  the  general  sense 
of  the  whole  country  shall  come  back  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
original  assumption,  that  it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  all  the  States  to  be 
so  united,  as  I  trust  it  will, — the  States  still  being  "  separate  as  the  billows 
but  one  as  the  sea," — I  can  perceive  no  reason  why,  under  such  restoration, 
we  as  a  whole,  writh  u  peace,  commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all 
nations  and  entangling  alliances  with  none,"  may  not  enter  upon  a  new 
career,  exciting  increased  wonder  in  the  Old  World,  by  grander  achieve 
ments  hereafter  to  be  made,  than  any  heretofore  attained,  by  the  peaceful 
and  harmonious  workings  of  our  American  institutions  of  self-government. 
All  this  is  possible  if  the  hearts  of  the  people  be  right.  It  is  my  earnest  wish 
to  see  it.  Fondly  would  I  indulge  my  fancy  in  gazing  on  such  a  picture  of 
the  future.  With  what  rapture  may  we  not  suppose  the  spirits  of  our 
fathers  would  hail  its  opening  scenes  from  their  mansions  above.  Such 
are  my  hopes,  resting  on  such  contingencies.  But  if,  instead  of  all  this, 
the  passions  of  the  day  shall  continue  to  bear  sway ;  if  prejudice  shall 
rule  the  hour;  if  a  conflict  of  races  shall  arise;  if  ambition  shall  turn  the 
scale ;  if  the  sword  shall  be  thrown  in  the  balance  against  patriotism  :  if 
the  embers  of  the  late  war  shall  be  kept  a-glowing  until  with  new  fuel 
they  shall  flame  up  again,  then  our  present  gloom  is  but  the  shadow,  the 
penumbra  of  that  deeper  and  darker  eclipse,  which  is  to  totally  obscure 
this  hemisphere  and  blight  forever  the  anxious  anticipations  and  expecta 
tions  of  mankind !  Then,  hereafter,  by  some  bard  it  may  be  sung, — 

"  The  Star  of  Hope  shone  brightest  in  the  West, 
The  hope  of  Liberty,  the  last,  the  best; 
That,  too,  has  set,  upon  her  darkened  shore, 
And  Hope  and  Freedom  light  up  earth  no  more," 

May  we  not  all,  on  this  occasion,  on  this  anniversary  of  the  birthday 
of  Washington,  join  in  a  fervent  prayer  to  heaven  that  the  Great  Ruler 
of  events  may  avert  from  this  land  such  a  fall,  such  a  fate,  and  such  a 
requiem ! 


APPENDIX  D. 


TESTIMONY  OF  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS  BEFORE 
THE  RECONSTRUCTION  COMMITTEE. 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS  sworn  and  examined: 

By  Mr.  Boutwell : 

Question.  State  your  residence. 

Answer.  Crawfordville,  Georgia. 

Q.  What  means  have  you  had  since  Lee's  surrender  to  ascertain  the 
sentiments  of  the  people  of  Georgia  with  regard  to  the  Union  ? 

A.  I  was  at  home,  in  Georgia,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  General 
Lee,  and  remained  there  until  the  llth  of  May,  and  during  that  time  con 
ferred  very  freely  with  the  people  in  my  immediate  neighborhood,  with 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  with  one  or  two  other  leading  or  prominent 
men  in  the  State.  From  the  llth  of  May  until  my  return  to  Georgia, 
which  was  the  25th  of  October,  I  had  no  means  of  knowing  anything  of 
the  public  sentiment  there,  except  through  the  public  press  and  such  let 
ters  as  I  received.  From  the  time  of  my  return  until  I  left  the  State  on 
my  present  visit  here,  I  had  very  extensive  intercourse  with  the  people, 
visiting  Augusta,  visiting  Milledgeville  during  the  session  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  first  on  their  assembling,  again  in  January  upon  their  reassembling, 
and  again  in  the  latter  part  of  February.  While  there,  I  conversed  very 
freely  and  fully  with  all  the  prominent  leading  men,  or  most  of  them,  in 
the  Legislature,  and  met  a  great  many  of  the  prominent,  influential  men  of 
the  State,  not  connected  writh  the  Legislature  ;  and  by  letters  from  and  cor 
respondence  with  men  in  the  State  whom  I  have  not  met.  I  believe  that  em 
braces  a  full  answer  to  the  question  as  to  my  means  of  ascertaining  the 
sentiments  of  the  people  of  that  State  upon  the  subject  stated  in  the  question. 

Q.  As  the  result  of  your  observations,  what  is  your  opinion  of  the  pur 
pose  of  the  people  with  reference  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Government, 
and  what  are  their  desires  and  purposes  concerniifg  the  maintenance  of 
the  Government? 

A.  My  opinion,  and  decided  opinion,  is  that  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  people  of  Georgia  are  exceedingly  anxious  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Government,  and  for  the  State  to  take  her  former  position  in  the 
Union,  to  have  her  Senators  and  Representatives  admitted  into  Congress, 
and  to  enjoy  all  her  rights  and  to  discharge  all  her  obligations  as  a  State 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  it  stands  amended. 
610 


APPENDIX. 

Q.  What  arc  their  present  views  concerning  the  justice  of  the  rebellion  ? 
Do  they  at  present  believe  that  it  was  a  reasonable  and  proper  under 
taking,  or  otherwise? 

A.  My  opinion  of  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Georgia  upon  that 
subject  is,  that  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  secession  was  resorted  to  by 
them  from  a  desire  to  render  their  liberties  and  institutions  more  secure, 
and  a  belief  on  their  part  that  this  was  absolutely  necessary  for  that  ob 
ject.  They  were  divided  upon  the  question  of  the  policy  of  the  measure  ; 
there  was,  however,  but  very  little  division  among  them  upon  the  question 
of  the  right  of  it.  It  is  now  their  belief,  in  my  opinion,— and  I  give  it 
merely  as  an  opinion, — that  the  surest,  if  not  the  only  hope  for  their 
liberties  is  the  restoration  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  under  the  Constitution. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  change  of  opinion  as  to  the  right  of  secession, 
as  a  right,  in  the  people  or  in  the  States? 

A.  I  think  there  has  been  a  very  decided  change  of  opinion  as  to  the 
policy  by  those  who  favored  it.  I  think  the  people  generally  are  satisfied 
sufficiently  with  the  experiment  never  to  resort  to  that  measure  of  redress 
again,  by  force,  whatever  may  be  their  own  abstract  ideas  upon  that  sub 
ject.  They  have  given  up  all  idea  of  a  maintenance  of  these  opinions  by 
a  resort  to  force.  They  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  better  to 
appeal  to  the  forums  of  reason  and  justice,  to  the  halls  of  legislation  and 
the  courts,  for  the  preservation  of  the  principles  of  constitutional  liberty, 
than  to  the  arena  of  arms.  It  is  my  settled  conviction  that  there  is  not 
any  idea  cherished  at  all  in  the  public  mind  of  Georgia  of  ever  resorting 
again  to  secession,  or  to  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  secession  by  force. 
That  whole  policy  for  the  maintenance  of  their  rights,  in  my  opinion,  is  at 
this  time  totally-abandoned. 

Q.  But  the  opinion  as  to  the  right,  as  I  understand,  remains  substan 
tially  the  same  ? 

A.  I  cannot  answer  as  to  that.  Some  may  have  changed  their  opinion 
in  this  respect.  It  would  be  an  unusual  thing,  as  well  as  a  difficult  matter, 
for  a  whole  people  to  change  their  convictions  upon  abstract  truths  or 
principles.  I  have  not  heard  this  view  of  the  subject  debated  or  discussed 
recently,  and  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  giving  my  opinion  only  on  that 
branch  of  the  subject  which  is  of  practical  character  and  importance. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  change  of  opinion  as  to  the  propriety 
of  attempting  to  maintain  their  views  by  force? 

A.  Well,  sir,  my  opinion  about  that — my  individual  opinion,  derived 
from  observation — is  that  this  change  of  opinion  arose  mainly  from  the 
operation  of  the  war  among  themselves,  and  the  results  of  the  conflict, 
from  their  own  authorities  on  their  individual  rights  of  person  and  prop 
erty, — the  general  breaking  down  of  constitutional  barriers  which  usually 
attend  all  protracted  wars. 

Q.  In  1861 'when  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  adopted  in  your  State, 
to  what  extent  was  it  supported  by  the  people? 


612  APPENDIX. 

A.  After  the  proclamation  of  President  Lincoln  calling  out  seventy-five 
thousand  militia,  under  the  circumstances  it  was  issued,  and  blockading 
the  Southern  ports,  and  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the 
Southern  Cause,  as  it  was  termed,  received  the  almost  unanimous  support 
of  the  people  of  Georgia.  Before  that  they  were  very  much  divided  on 
the  question  of  the  policy  of  secession.  But  afterwards  they  supported  the 
cause  within  the  range  of  my  knowledge,  with  very  few  exceptions  (there 
were  some  few  exceptions,  not  exceeding  half  a  dozen,  I  think).  The  im 
pression  then  prevailing  was,  that  public  liberty  was  endangered,  and  they 
supported  the  cause  because  of  their  zeal  for  constitutional  rights.  They 
still  differed  very  much  as  to  the  ultimate  object  to  be  attained,  and  the 
means  to  be  used,  but  these  differences  yielded  to  the  emergency  of  the 
apprehended  common  danger. 

Q.  Was  not  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  adopted  in  Georgia  earlier  in 
date  than  the  proclamation  for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  I  stated  that  the  people  were  very  much  divided  on  the 
question  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  but  that  after  the  proclamation 
the  people  became  almost  unanimous  in  their  support  of  the  cause.  There 
were  some  few  exceptions  in  the  State, — I  think  not  more  than  half  a 
dozen  among  my  acquaintances.  As  I  said,  while  they  were  thus  almost 
unanimous  in  support  of  the  cause,  they  differed  also  as  to  the  end  to  be 
attained  by  sustaining  it.  Some  looked  to  an  adjustment  or  settlement  of 
the  controversy  upon  any  basis  that  would  secure  their  constitutional 
rights :  others  looked  to  a  Southern  separate  nationality  as  their  only  ob 
ject  and  hope.  These  different  views  as  to  the  ultimate  objects  did  not 
interfere  with  the  general  active  support  of  the  cause. 

Q.  Was  there  a  popular  vote  upon  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  ? 

A.  Only  so  far  as  in  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Convention. 

Q.  There  was  no  subsequent  action  ? 

A.  No,  sir:  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  not  submitted  to  a  popular 
vote  afterward. 

Q.  Have  you  any  opinion  as  to  the  vote  it  would  have  received,  as  com 
pared  with  the  whole,  if  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  free  action  of  the 
people? 

Witness.  Do  you  mean  after  it  was  adopted  by  the  Convention  ? 

Mr.  Boutwell.  Yes ;  after  it  was  adopted  by  the  Convention,  if  it  had 
been  submitted  forthwith,  or  within  a  reasonable  time. 

A.  Taking  the  then  state  of  things  into  consideration,  South  Carolina, 
Florida,  and  Mississippi,  I  think,  having  seceded,  my  opinion  is  that  a 
majority  of  the  people  would  have  ratified  it,  and  perhaps  a  decided  or 
large  majority.  If,  however,  South  Carolina  and  the  other  States  had  not 
adopted  their  Ordinances  of  Secession,  I  am  very  well  satisfied  that  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  perhaps  a  very  decided  majority, 
would  have  been  against  secession  if  the  ordinance  had  been  submitted  to 
them.  But,  as  matters  stood  at  the  time,  if  the  ordinance  had  been  sub- 


APPENDIX. 


613 


mitted  to  a  popular  vote  of  the  State,  it  would  have  been  sustained.  That 
is  my  opinion  about  that  matter. 

Q.  What  was  the  date  of  the  Georgia  ordinance? 

A.  The  18th  or  19th  ;  I  think  the  19th  of  January,  1861,  though  I  am 
not  certain. 

Q.  The  question  of  secession  was  involved  in  the  election  of  delegates 
to  the  Convention,  was  it  not? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  was  there  on  the  part  of  candidates  a  pretty  general  avowal  of 
opinions? 

A.  Very  general. 

Q.  What  was  the  result  of  the  election  as  far  as  the  Convention  expressed 
any  opinion  upon  the  question  of  secession  ? 

A.  I  think  the  majority  was  about  thirty  in  the  Convention  in  favor  of 
secession.  I  do  not  recollect  the  exact  vote. 

Q.  In  a  convention  of  how  many? 

A.  In  a  convention  based  upon  the  number  of  Senators  and  members 
of  the  House  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State.  The  exact  number  I 
do  not  recollect,  but  I  think  it  was  near  three  hundred,  perhaps  a  few  over 
or  under. 

Q.  Was  there  any  difference  in  different  parts  of  the  State  in  the  strength 
of  Union  sentiment  at  that  time? 

A.  In  some  of  the  mountain  counties  the  Union  sentiment  was  gener 
ally  prevalent.  The  cities,  towns,  and  villages  were  generally  for  seces 
sion  throughout  the  State,  I  think,  with  some  exceptions.  The  anti-secession 
sentiment  was  more  general  in  the  rural  districts  and  in  the  mountain  por 
tions  of  the  State  ;  yet  the  people  of  some  of  the  upper  counties  were  very 
active  and  decided  secessionists.  There  was  nothing  like  a  sectional  divis 
ion  of  the  State  at  all.  For  instance,  the  delegation  from  Floyd  County,  in 
which  the  city  of  Home  is  situated,  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  State,  was 
an  able  one,  strong  for  secession,  while  the  county  of  Jefferson,  down  in 
the  interior  of  the  cotton  belt,  sent  one  of  the  most  prominent  delegations 
for  the  Union.  I  could  designate  other  particular  counties  in  that  way 
throughout  the  State,  showing  that  there  was  not  what  might  be  termed  a 
sectional  or  geographical  division  of  the  State  on  the  question. 

Q,  In  what  particular  did  the  people  believe  their  constitutional  liberties 
were  assailed  or  endangered  from  the  Union  ? 

A.  Mainly,  I  would  say,  in  their  internal  social  polity,  and  their  appre 
hension  from  the  general  consolidating  tendencies  of  the  doctrines,  and 
principles  of  that  political  party  which  had  recently  succeeded  in  the 
choice  of  a  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the 
serious  apprehension  that  if  the  Republican  organization,  as  then  consti 
tuted,  would  succeed  to  power,  it  would  lead  ultimately  to  a  virtual  sub 
version  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  all  essential  guaran 
tees  of  public  liberty.  I  think  that  was  the  sincere  and  honest  conviction 


(J14  APPENDIX. 

in  the  minds  of  our  people.  Those  who  opposed  secession  did  not  appre 
hend  that  any  such  result  would  necessarily  follow  the  elections  which  had 
taken  place;  they  still  thought  that  all  their  rights  might  be  maintained 
in  the  Union  and  under  the  Constitution,  especially  as  there  were  majori 
ties  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  who  agreed  with  them  on  constitutional 
questions. 

Q.  To  what  feature  of  their  internal  social  polity  did  they  apprehend 
danger? 

A.  Principally  the  subordination  of  the  African  race  as  it  existed  under 
their  laws  and  institutions. 

Q.  In  what  spirit  is  the  emancipation  of  slaves  received  by  the  people  ? 
A.  Generally  it  is  acquiesced  in  and  accepted,  I  think,  in  perfect  good 
faith,  and  with  a  disposition  to  do  the  best  that  can  be  done  in  the  new 
order  of  things  in  this  particular. 

Q.  What  at  present  are  the  relations  subsisting  between  the  whito 
people  and  black  people,  especially  in  the  relation  of  employers  and  em 
ployed? 

A.  Quite  as  good,  I  think,  as  in  any  part  of  the  world  that  ever  I  havo 
been  in,  between  like  classes  of  employers  and  employes.  The  condition 
of  things,  in  this  respect,  on  my  return  last  fall,  was  very  different  from 
what  it  was  when  I  left  home  for  my  present  visit  to  this  city.  During 
the  fall  and  up  to  the  close  of  the  year  there  was  a  general  opinion  pre 
vailing  among  the  colored  people  that  at  Christinas  there  would  be  a 
division  of  the  lands,  and  a  very  general  indisposition  on  their  part  to 
make  any  contracts  at  all  for  the  present  year.  Indeed,  there  were  very 
few  contracts,  I  think,  made  throughout  the  State  until  after  Christinas, 
or  about  the  1st  of  January.  General  Tillson,  wTho  is  at  the  head  of  the 
bureau  in  the  State,  and  whose  administration  has  given  very  general 
satisfaction  to  our  people,  I  think,  was  very  active  in  disabusing  the  minds 
of  the  colored  people  from  their  error  in  this  particular.  lie  visited  quite 
a  number  of  places  in  the  State,  and  addressed  large  audiences  of  colored 
people,  and  when  they  became  satisfied  they  were  laboring  under  a  mistake 
in  anticipating  a  division  of  lands  after  Christmas  and  the  1st  of  January, 
they  made  contracts  very  readily  generally,  and  since  that  time  affairs  have, 
in  the  main,  moved  on  quite  smoothly  and  quietly. 
Q.  Are  the  negroes  generally  at  work  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  they  are  generally  at  work.  There  are  some  idlers;  but 
this  class  constitutes  but  a  small  proportion. 

Q.  What  upon  the  whole  has  been  their  conduct?     Proper  under  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  have  been  placed,  or  otherwise? 
A.  As  a  whole,  much  better  than  the  most  hopeful  looked  for. 
Q.  As  far  as  you  know,  what  are  the  leading  objects  and  desires  of  the 
negro  population  at  the  present  time  in  reference  to  themselves  ? 

A.  It  is  to  be  protected  in  their  rights  of  persons  and  of  property, — to  be 
dealt  by  fairly  and  justly. 


APPENDIX.  (J15 

Q.  What,  if  anything,  has  been  done  by  the  Legislature  of  your  State 
for  the  accomplishment  of  these  objects? 
A.  The  Legislature  has  passed  an  act  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

"  [No.  90.] 

"  Ax  ACT  to  define  the  term  '  persons  of  color,'  and  to  declare  the  rights  of  such 

persons. 

"SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  all  negroes,  mulattoes,  mestizoes,  and  their  de 
scendants,  having  one-eighth  negro  or  African  blood  in  their  veins,  shall  be  known 
in  this  State  as  'persons  of  color.' 

"  SEC.  2.  Be  it  farther  enacted,  That  persons  of  color  shall  have  the  right  to  make 
and  enforce  contracts,  to  sue,  be  sued,  to  be  parties  and  give  evidence,  to  inherit,  to 
purchase,  and  to  have  full  and  equal  benefit  of  all  laws  and  proceedings  for  the 
security  of  person  and  estate,  and  shall  not  be  subjected  to  any  other  or  different 
punishment,  pain,  or  penalty  for  the  commission  of  any  act  or  offence  than  such  as 
are  prescribed  for  white  persons  committing  like  acts  or  offences." 

The  third  section  of  this  act  simply  repeals  .ill  conflicting  laws.  It  was 
approved  by  the  Governor  on  the  17th  of  March  last. 

Q.  Does  this  act  express  the  'opinions  of  the  people,  and  will  it  be 
sustained? 

A.  I  think  it  will  be  sustained  by  the  courts  as  well  as  by  public  senti 
ment.  It  was  passed  by  the  present  Legislature.  As  an  evidence  of  the 
tone  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  as  well  as  that  of  the  people  of  the 
State  upon  this  subject,  I  will  refer  you  simply  to  a  letter  I  wrote  to 
Senator  Stewart  upon  the  same  subject.  I  submit  to  you  a  copy  of  that 
letter.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  4th,  1866. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  answer  to  your  inquiries  touching  the  sentiments  and  feelings  of 
the  people  of  Georgia  toward  the  freedmen,  and  the  legal  status  of  this  class  'of 
population  in  the  State,  etc.,  allow  me  briefly  to  say  that  the  address  delivered  by  me 
on  the  22d  of  February  last  before  the  Legislature  (a  copy  of  which  I  herewith  hand 
3'ou)  expresses  very  fully  and  clearly  my  own  opinions  and  feelings  upon  the  subjects 
of  your  inquiry.  This  address  was  written  and  printed  as  you  now  see  it,  before 
its  delivery.  It  was  delivered  verbatim  as  you  now  read  it,  that  there  might  be  no 
mistake  about  it.  It  was  as  it  now  stands  unanimously  endorsed  by  the  Senate  in 
a  joint  resolution,  which  was  concurred  in  in  the  House  without  dissent,  and  was 
ordered  to  be  spread  upon  the  journals  of  both  Houses.  This  I  refer  you  to  as  a 
better  and  more  reliable  index  of  the  feelings  and  views  of  the  people  of  the  State 
on  this  subject  than  any  bare  individual  opinion  I  might  entertain  or  express.  The 
Legislature  of  the  State,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  is  as  correct  an  exponent  of  the  gen 
eral  feelings  and  views  of  the  State  upon  any  political  question  as  any  that  can  be 
obtained  from  any  quarter.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Legislature  subsequently  evinced 
their  principles  by  their  works  in  passing  an  act,  which  I  also  inclose  to  you.  This 
act  speaks  for  itself.  It  is  short,  concise,  pointed,  as  well  as  comprehensive.  It 
secures  to  the  colored  race  the  right  to  contract  and  to  enforce  contracts,  the  right  to 
sue  and  to  be  sued,  the  right  to  testify  in  the  courts,  subject  to  the  same  rules  that 


APPENDIX. 

govern  the  testimony  of  whites,  and  it  subjects  them  to  the  same  punishments  for  all 
offences  as  the  whites.  In  these  respects,  embracing  all  essential  civil  rights,  all 
classes  in  Georgia  now  stand  equal  before  the  law.  There  is  no  discrimination  in 
these  particulars  on  account  of  race  or  color. 

"  Please  excuse  this  hasty  note;  I  have  no  time  to  go  more  in  detail. 
"  Yours  most  respectfully, 

"  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 
"  Hon.  WILLIAM  M.  STEWART,  United  States  Senate." 

Q.  What,  if  anything,  is  being  done  in  Georgia  with  regard  to  the 
education  of  the  negroes,  either  children  or  adults  ? 

A.  Nothing  by  the  public  authorities  as  yet.  Schools  are  being  estab 
lished  in  many  portions  of  the  State,  under  the  auspices,  I  think,  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  quite  a  number  by  the  colored  people  themselves, 
encouraged  by  the  whites. 

Q.  What  disposition  do  the  negroes  manifest  in  regard  to  education  ? 

A.  There  seems  to  be  a  very  great  desire  on  the  part  of  the  children 
and  younger  ones,  and  with  their  parents,  to  have  them  educated. 

Q.  What  is  the  present  legal  condition  of  those  who  have  lived  together 
as  husband  and  wife?  Do  the  laws  recognize  and  sustain  the  relations  and 
the  legitimacy  of  their  offspring? 

A.  Our  State  laws  do.  They  recognize  all  those  living  as  man  and 
wife  as  legally  man  and  wife.  A  good  many  of  them  took  out  licenses, 
and  were  married  in  the  usual  way.  There  is  no  difference  in  our  laws 
in  that  respect.  Licenses  are  issued  for  white  and  black  alike,  only  they 
are  prohibited  from  intermarrying  with  each  other.  The  races  are  not 
permitted  to  intermarry. 

Q.  Were  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Georgia, 
recently  adopted,  submitted  to  the  people? 

A.  No,  sir ;  they  were  not  submitted.  I  have  no  hesitation,  however, 
in  expressing  the  opinion  that  nine-tenths  of  the  people  would  have  voted 
for  them  if  the  Constitution  had  been  submitted.  That  is  but  an  opinion. 
I  heard  no  dissent  at  all  in  the  State.  I  was  there  all  the  time.  I  got 
home  before  the  Convention  adjourned.  The  State  Constitution,  as  made 
by  the  Convention,  would  have  been  ratified  almost  without  opposition. 
It  would  have  been  ratified  nem.  con.  if  it  had  been  submitted.  This,  at 
least,  is  my  opinion. 

Q.  What  was  the  voting  population  of  your  State  in  1860? 

A.  Something  upward  of  a  hundred  thousand. 

Q.  What  is  probably  the  present  voting  population  ? 

A.  The  voting  population  of  the  State,  under  the  present  Constitution, 
is  perhaps  eighty  thousand.  That  is  a  mere  estimate. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  enumeration  of  the  losses  of  Georgia  in  the 
field,  in  the  military  service  ? 

A.  No  accurate  estimate  that  I  am  aware  of. 

Q.  What  is  it  supposed  to  have  been  ? 


APPENDIX.  (517 

A.  I  am  not  able  to  answer  the  question  with  anything  like  accuracy. 

Q.  What  is  the  public  sentiment  of  Georgia  with  regard  to  the  extension 
of  the  right  of  voting  to  the  negroes? 

A.  The  general  opinion  in  the  State  is  very  much  averse  to  it. 

Q.  If  a  proposition  were  made  to  amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to  have 
representation  in  Congress  based  upon  voters  substantially,  would  Georgia 
ratify  such  a  proposed  amendment,  if  it  were  made  a  condition  precedent 
to  the  restoration  of  the  State  to  political  power  in  the  Government? 

A.  I  do  not  think  they  would.  The  people  of  Georgia,  in  my  judgment, 
as  far  as  I  can  reflect  or  represent  their  opinions,  feel  that  they  are  entitled 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  representation  without  any 
further  condition  precedent.  They  would  not  object  to  entertain,  discuss, 
and  exchange  views  in  the  common  councils  of  the  country  with  the  other 
States  upon  such  a  proposition,  or  any  proposition  to  amend  the  Constitu 
tion,  or  change  it  in  any  of  its  features,  and  they  would  abide  by  any  such 
change  if  made  as  the  Constitution  provides;  but  they  feel  that  they  are 
constitutionally  entitled  to  be  heard  by  their  Senators  and  members  in 
the  Houses  of  Congress  upon  this  or  any  other  proposed  amendment.  I 
do  not  therefore  think  that  they  would  ratify  that  amendment  suggested 
as  a  condition  precedent  to  her  being  admitted  to  representation  in  Con 
gress.  Such,  at  least,  is  my  opinion. 

Q.  It  is,  then,  your  opinion  that  at  present  the  people  of  Georgia  would 
neither  be  willing  to  extend  suffrage  to  the  negroes,  nor  consent  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  negroes  from  the  basis  of  representation  ? 

A.  The  people  of  Georgia,  in  my  judgment,  are  perfectly  willing  to 
leave  suffrage  and  the  basis  of  representation  where  the  Constitution 
leaves  it.  They  look  upon  the  question  of  suffrage  as  one  belonging 
exclusively  to  the  States ;  one  over  which,  under,  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  Congress  has  no  jurisdiction,  power,  or  control,  except  in 
proposing  amendments  to  the  States,  and  not  in  exacting  them  from  them  : 
and  I  do  not  think,  therefore,  that  the  people  of  that  State,  while  they  are 
disposed,  as  I  believe,  earnestly  to  deal  fairly,  justly,  and  generously  with 
the  freedmen,  would  be  willing  to  consent  to  a  change  in  the  Constitution 
that  would  give  Congress  jurisdiction  over  the  question  of  suffrage.  And 
especially  would  they  be  very  much  averse  to  Congress  exercising  any 
such  jurisdiction,  without  their  representatives  in  the  Senate  and  House 
being  heard  in  the  public  council  upon  this  question  that  so  vitally  con 
cerns  their  internal  policy,  as  well  as  the  internal  policy  of  all  the  States. 

Q.  If  the  proposition  were  to  be  submitted  to  Georgia  as  one  of  the 
eleven  States  lately  in  rebellion,  that  she  might  be  restored  to  political 
power  in  the  Government  of  the  country  upon  the  condition  precedent 
that  she  should,  on  the  one  hand,  extend  suffrage  to  the  negro,  or,  on  the 
other,  consent  to  their  exclusion  from  the  basis  of  representation,  would 
she  accept  either  proposition  and  take  her  place  in  the  Government  of  the 
country? 


APPENDIX. 

A.  I  can  only  give  my  opinion.  I  do  not  think  she  would  accept  either 
as  a  condition  precedent  presented  by  Congress,  for  they  do  not  believe 
that  Congress  has  the  rightful  power  under  the  Constitution  to  prescribe 
such  a  condition.  If  Georgia  is  a  State  in  the  Union,  her  people  feel  that 
she  is  entitled  to  representation  without  conditions  imposed'  by  Congress. 
And  if  she  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union,  then  she  could  not  be  admitted  as 
an  equal  with  the  others  if  her  admission  were  trammelled  with  conditions 
that  do  not  apply  to  all  the  rest  alike.  General  universal  suffrage  among 
the  colored  people,  as  they  are  now  there,  would  by  our  people  be  regarded 
as  about  as  great  a  political  evil  as  could  befall  them. 

Q.  If  the  proposition  were  to  extend  the  right  of  suffrage  to  those  who 
could  read,  and  to  those  who  had  served  in  the  Union  armies,  would  that 
modification  affect  the  action  of  the  State? 

A.  I  think  the  people  of  the  State  would  be  unwilling  to  do  more  than 
they  have  done  for  restoration.  Restricted  or  limited  suffrage  would  not 
be  so  objectionable  as  general  or  universal  5  but  it  is  a  matter  that  belongs 
to  the  State  to  regulate.  The  question  of  suffrage,  whether  universal  or 
restricted,  is  one  of  State  policy  exclusively,  as  they  believe.  Individually 
I  should  not  be  opposed  to  a  proper  system  of  restricted  or  limited  suffrage 
to  this  class  of  our  population  :  but  in  iny  judgment  it  is  a  matter  that 
belongs  of  constitutional  right  to  the  States  to  regulate  exclusively,  each 
for  itself.  But  the  people  of  that  State,  as  I  have  said,  would  not  willingly, 
I  think,  do  more  than  they  have  done  for  restoration.  The  only  view  in 
their  opinion  that  could  possibly  justify  the  war  which  was  carried  on  by 
the  Federal  Government  against  them  was  the  idea  of  the  indissolubleness 
of  the  Union, — that  those  who  held  the  administration  for  the  time  were 
bound  to  enforoe  the  execution  of  the  laws  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
integrity  of  the  country  under  the  Constitution  ;  and  since  that  was  ac 
complished,  since  those  who  had  assumed  the  contrary  principle — the 
right  of  secession,  and  the  reserved  sovereignty  of  the  States — had  aban 
doned  their  cause,  and  the  Administration  here  was  successful  in  maintain 
ing  the  idea  upon  which  war  was  proclaimed  and  waged,  and  the  only  view 
in  which  they  supposed  it  could  be  justified  at  all, — when  that  was  accom 
plished,  I  say,  the  people  of  Georgia  supposed  their  State  was  immediately 
entitled  to  all  her  rights  under  the  Constitution.  That  is  my  opinion  of 
the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  I  do  not  think  they  would  be 
willing  to  do  anything  further  as  a  condition  precedent  to  their  being  per 
mitted  to  enjoy  the  full  measure  of  their  constitutional  rights.  I  only  give 
my  opinion  of  the  sentiment  of  the  people  at  this  time.  They  expected 
that  as  soon  as  the  Confederate  cause  was  abandoned,  that  immediately  the 
States  would  be  brought  back  into  their  practical  relations  with  the  Gov 
ernment,  as  previously  constituted.  That  is  what  they  looked  to.  They 
expected  that  the  State  would  immediately  have  their  representatives  in 
the  Senate  and  in  the  House,  and  they  expected  in  good  faith,  as  loyal  men, 
as  the  term  is  frequently  used, — I  mean  by  it  loyal  to  law,  order,  and  the 


APPENDIX.  (519 

Constitution, — to  support  the  Government  under  the  Constitution.  That 
was  their  feeling.  They  did  what  they  did  believing  it  was  best  for 
the  protection  of  constitutional  liberty.  Toward  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  as -they  construed  it,  the  great  mass  of  our  people  were  as 
much  devoted  in  their  feelings  as  any  people  ever  were  toward  any  cause. 
This  is  my  opinion.  As  I  remarked  before,  they  resorted  to  secession  with 
a  view  of  maintaining  more  securely  these  principles.  And  when  they 
found  they  were  not  successful  in  their  object,  in  perfect  good  faith,  as  far 
as  I  can  judge  from  meeting  with  them  and  conversing  with  them,  looking 
to  the  future  developments  of  their  country  in  its  material  resources,  as 
well  as  its  moral  and  intellectual  progress,  their  earnest  desire  and  expec 
tation  wras  to  allow  the  past  struggle,  lamentable  as  it  was  in  its  results,  to 
pass  by,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  true' friends  of  the  Constitution,  with 
those  of  all  sections  who  earnestly  desire  the  preservation  of  constitutional 
liberty,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  Government  in  its  purity^  They  have 
been  a  little  disappointed  in  this,  and  are  so  now.  They  are  patiently 
waiting,  however,  and  believing  that  when  the  passions  of  the  hour  have 
passed  away,  this  delay  in  restoration  will  cease.  They  think  they  have 
done  everything  that  was  essential  and  proper,  and  my  judgment  is  that 
they  would  not  be  willing  to  do  anything  further  as  a  condition  precedent. 
They  would  simply  remain  quiet  and  passive. 

Q.  Does  your  own  judgment  approve  the  view  you  have  given  as  the 
opinion  of  the  people  of  the  State? 

A.  My  own  judgment  is  very  decided  that  the  question  of  suffrage  is 
one  that  belongs,  under  the  -Constitution, — and  wisely  so  too, — to  the 
States  respectively  and  exclusively. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  neither  of  the  alternatives  suggested  hi  the 
question  ought  to  be  accepted  by  the  people  of  Georgia? 

A.  My  opinion  is,  that  these  terms  ought  not  to  be  offered  as  conditions 
precedent.  In  other  words,  my  opinion  is,  that  it  would  be  best  for  the 
peace,  harmony,  and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country  that  there  should  be 
an  immediate  restoration, — an  immediate  bringing  back  of  the  States  into 
their  original  practical  relations, — and  let  all  these  questions  then  be  dis 
cussed  in  common  council.  Then  the  representatives  from  the  South  could 
be  heard,  and  you  and  all  could  judge  much  better  of  the  tone  and  temper 
of  the  people  than  you  could  from  the  opinions  given  by  any  individuals. 
You  may  take  my  opinion,  or  the  opinion  of  any  individual,  but  they  will 
not  enable  you  to  judge  of  the  condition  of  the  State  of  Georgia  so  well  as 
for  her  own  representatives  to  be  heard  in  your  public  councils  in  her  own 
behalf.  My  judgment,  therefore,  is  very  decided  that  it  would  have  been 
better,  as  soon  as  the  lamentable  conflict  was  over,  when  the  people  of  the 
South  abandoned  their  cause  and  agreed  to  accept  the  issue, — desiring,  as 
they  do,  to  resume  their  places  for  the  future  in  the  Union,  and  to  look  to 
the  halls  of  Congress  and  the  courts  for  the  protection  of  their  rights  in 
the  Union, — it  would  have  been  better  to  have  allowed  that  result  to  follow, 


620  APPENDIX. 

under  the  policy  adopted  by  the  Administration,  than  to  delay  it  or  hinder 
it  by  propositions  to  amend  the  Constitution  in  respect  to  suffrage  or  any 
other  new  matter.  I  think  the  people  of  all  the  Southern  States  would, 
in  the  halls  of  Congress,  discuss  these  questions  calmly  and  deliberately ; 
and  if  they  did  not  show  that  the  views  they  entertained  were  just  and 
proper,  such  as  to  control  the  judgment  of  the  people  of  the  other  sections 
and  States,  they  would  quietly,  patiently,  and  patriotically  yield  to  what 
ever  should  be  constitutionally  determined  in  common  council.  But  I 
think  they  feel  very  sensitively  the  offer  to  them  of  propositions  to  accept, 
while  they  are  denied  all  voice  in  the  common  council  of  the  Union  under 
the  Constitution  in  the  discussion  of  these  propositions.  I  think  they  feel 
very  sensitively  that  they  are  denied  the  right  to  be  heard.  And  while,  as 
I  have  said,  they  might  differ  among  themselves  in  many  points  in  regard 
to  suffrage,  they  would  not  differ  upon  the  question  of  doing  anything 
further  as  a  condition  precedent  to  restoration.  And  in  respect  to  the 
alternate  conditions  to  be  so  presented,  I  do  not  think  they  would  accept 
the  one  or  the  other.  My  individual  general  views  as  to  the  proper  course 
to  be  pursued  in  respect  to  the  colored  people  are  expressed  in  a  speech 
made  before  the  Georgia  Legislature,  referred  to  in  my  letter  to  Senator 
Stewart.  That  was  the  proper  forum,  as  I  conceive,  in  which  to  discuss  this 
subject.  And  I  think  a  great  deal  depends  in  the  advancement  of  civilisa 
tion  and  progress,  looking  to  the  benefit  of  all  classes,  that  these  questions 
should  be  considered  and  kept  before  the  proper  forum. 

Q.  Suppose  the  States  that  are  represented  in  Congress  and  Congress 
itself  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  Georgia  should  not  be  permitted  to 
take  its  place  in  the  Government  of  the  country  except  upon  its  assent  to 
one  or  the  other  of  the  two  propositions  suggested:  is  it  then  your  opinion 
that  under  such  circumstances  Georgia  ought  to  decline? 

Witness.  You  mean  the  States  now  represented,  and  those  only? 

Mr.  Boutwell.  Yes. 

Witness.  You  mean  by  Congress,  Congress  as  it  is  now  constituted,  with 
the  other  eleven  States  excluded? 

Mr.  Boutwell.  I  do. 

Witness.  And  you  mean  the  same  alternative  proposition  to  be  applied  to 
all  the  eleven  States  as  conditions  precedent  to  their  restoration  ? 

Mr.  Boutwell.  I  do. 

A.  Then  I  think  she  ought  to  decline  under  the  circumstances,  and  for 
the  reasons  stated  ;  and  so  ought  the  whole  eleven.  Should  such  an  offer 
be  made  and  declined,  and  these  States  should  thus  continue  to  be  excluded 
and  kept  out,  a  singular  spectacle  would  be  presented.  A  complete  re 
versal  of  positions  would  be  presented.  In  1861,  these  States  thought  they 
could  not  remain  safely  in  the  Union  without  new  guarantees,  and  now, 
when  they  agree  to  resume  their  former  practical  relations  in  the  Union 
under  the  Constitution  as  it  is,  the  other  States  turn  upon  them  and  say 
they  cannot  permit  them  to  do  so  safely  to  their  interest,  without  new 


APPENDIX.  621 

guarantees  on  their  part.  The  Southern  States  would  thus  present  them 
selves  as  willing  for  immediate  union  under  the  Constitution,  while  it 
would  be  the  Northern  States  opposed  to  it.  The  former  disunionists 
would  thereby  become  unionists,  and  the  former  unionists  the  practical 
disunonists. 

Examination  o/* ALEXANDER  II.  STEPHENS  resumed : 

By  Mr.  Boutwell : 

Q.  Do  you  mean  to  be  understood  in  your  last  answer  that  there  is  no 
constitutional  power  in  the  Government,  as  at  present  organized,  to  exact 
conditions  precedent  to  the  restoration  to  political  power  of  the  eleven 
States  that  have  been  in  rebellion? 

A.  Yes,  sir.     That  is  my  opinion. 

Q.  Do  you  entertain  the  same  opinion  in  reference  to  the  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  abolishing  slavery? 

A.  I  do.  1  think  the  States,  however,  abolished  slavery  in  good  faith, 
as  one  of  the  results  of  the  war.  Their  ratification  of  the  constitutional 
amendment  followed  as  a  consequence.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  con 
stitutional  power  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  have  exacted  it  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  their  restoration  under  the' Constitution,  or  to  the 
resumption  of  their  places  as  members  of  the  Union. 

Q.  What,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  legal  value  of  the  laws  passed  by 
Congress  and  approved  by  the  President  in  the  absence  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  from  the  eleven  States  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know  what  particular  law  you  refer  to ;  but  my  answer, 
generally,  is,  that  the  validity  of  all  laws  depends  on  their  constitutionality. 
This  is  a  question  for  the  judiciary  to  determine.  My  own  judgment, 
whatever  it  might  be,  would  have  to  conform  to  the  judicial  determination 
of  the  question.  It  is  a  question  for  the  courts  to  determine. 

Q.  Have  you  formed  any  opinion  upon  that  question  ? 

A.  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  formed  any  matured  opinion  in  reference  to 
any  particular  act  of  Congress  embraced  in  the  question. 

Q.  Assume  that  Congress  shall  in  this  session,  in  the  absence  of  Sena 
tors  and*  Representatives  from  the  eleven  States,  pass  an  act  levying  taxes 
upon  all  the  people  of  the  United  States,  including  the  eleven,  is  it  your 
opinion  that  such  an  act  would  be  constitutional? 

A.  I  should  doubt  if  it  would  be.  It  would  certainly,  in  my  opinion, 
be  manifestly  unjust,  and  against  all  ideas  of  American  representative 
government.  Its  constitutionality  would,  however,  be  a  question  for  the 
judiciary  to  decide,  and  I  should  be  willing  to  abide  by  that  decision, 
whatever  it  might  be. 

Q.  If  the  eleven  States  have  at  present  an  immediate  constitutional 
right  to  be  represented  in  Congress  on  a  footing  with  the  States  at  present 
represented,  has  that  been  a  continuous  right  from  the  formation  of  the 


622  APPENDIX. 

Government,  or  from  the  time  of  the  admission  of  the  new  States  respect 
ively,  or  has  it  been  interrupted  by  war  ? 

A.  I  think,  as  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  did  not  consent  to  the 
withdrawal  of  the  seceding  States,  it  was  a  continuous  right  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be  exercised  so  soon  as  the  seceding 
States  respectively  made  known  their  readiness  to  resume  their  former 
practical  relations  with  the  Federal  Government,  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  As  the  General  Government  denied  the  right  of 
secession,  I  do  not  think  any  of  the  States  attempting  to  exercise  it  there 
by  lost  any  of  their  rights  under  the  Constitution,  as  States,  when  their 
people  abandoned  that  attempt. 

Q.  Is  it  or  not  your  opinion  that  the  Legislatures  and  people  of  the  eleven 
States,  respectively,  have  at  present  such  a  right  to  elect  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  to  Congress  ;  that  it  may  be  exercised  without  regard  to  the 
part  which  persons  elected  may  have  had  in  the  rebellion  ? 

A.  I  do  not  think  they  could  exercise  that  right  in  the  choice  of  their 
Senators  and  members,  so  as  to  impair  in  the  slightest  degree  the  consti 
tutional  right  of  each  House  for  itself  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of 
those  who  might  be  chosen.  The  right  of  the  constitutional  electors  of  a 
Sf.ate  to  choose,  and  the  right  of  each  House  of  Congress  to  judge  of  the 
qualifications  of  those  elected  to  their  respective  bodies,  are  very  distinct 
and  different  questions'.  And  in  thus  judging  of  qualifications,  I  am  free 
to  admit  that  in  my  opinion  no  one  should  be  admitted  as  a  member  of 
either  House  of  Congress  who  is  not  really  and  truly  loyal  to  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  Government  established  by  it. 

Q.  State  whether  from  your  observation  the  events  of  the  war  have 
produced  any  change  in  the  public  mind  of  the  South  upon  the  question  of 
the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

A.  That  question  I  answered  in  part  yesterday.  While  I  cannot  state 
from  personal  knowledge  to  what  extent  the  opinions  of  the  Southern 
States  upon  the  abstract  question  of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  may 
have  changed,  my  decided  opinion  is  that  a  very  thorough  change  has 
taken  place  upon  the  practical  policy  of  resorting  to  any  such  right. 

Q.  What  events  or  experience  of  the  war  have  contributed  to  this 
change? 

A.  First,  the  people  are  satisfied  that  a  resort  to  the  exercise  of  this 
right,  while  it  is  denied  by  the  Federal  Government,  will  lead  to  war, 
which  many  thought  before  the  late  attempted  secession  would  not  be  the 
case ;  and  civil  wars  they  are  also  now  very  well  satisfied  are  dangerous 
to  liberty  ;  and,  moreover,  their  experience  in  the  late  war  I  think  satisfied 
them  that  it  greatly  endangered  their  own.  I  allude  especially  to  the  sus 
pension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  military  conscriptions,  the  proc 
lamations  of  martial  law  in  various  places,  general  impressments,  and  the 
levying  of  forced  contributions,  as  well  as  the  very  demoralizing  effects  of 
vrir  generally. 


APPENDIX.  623 

Q,  When  were  you  last  a  member  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States? 

A.  I  went  out  on  the  4th  of  March,  1859. 

Q.  Will  you  state,  if  not  indisposed  to  do  so,  the  considerations  or 
opinions  which  led  you  to  identify  yourself  with  the  rebellion  so  far  as  to 
accept  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
so  called  ? 

A.  I  believed  thoroughly  in  the  reserved  sovereignty  of  the  several 
States  of  the  Union  under  the  compact  of  Union  or  Constitution  of  1787. 
I  opposed  secession,  therefore,  as  a  question  of  policy,  and  not  one  of 
right  on  the  part  of  Georgia.  When  the  State  seceded  against  my  judg 
ment  and  vote,  I  thought  my  ultimate  allegiance  was  due  to  her,  and  I 
preferred  to  cast  my  fortunes  and  destinies  with  hers  and  he'r  people 
rather  than  to  take  any  other  course,  even  though  it  might  lead  to  my 
sacrifice  and  her  ruin.  In  accepting  position  under  the  new  order  of 
things,  my  sole  object  was  to  do  all  the  good  I  could  in  preserving  and 
perpetuating  the  principles  of  liberty,  as  established  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  -the  United  States.  If  the  Union  was  to  be  abandoned  either  with 
or  without  force, — which  I  thought  a  very  impolitic  measure, — 1  wished, 
if  possible,  to  rescue,  preserve,  and  perpetuate  the  principles  of  the  Con 
stitution.  This,  I  was  not  without  hope,  might  be  done  in  the  new  con 
federacy  of  States  formed.  AVhen  the  conflict  arose,  my  efforts  were 
directed  to  as  speedy  and  peaceful  an  adjustment  of  the  question  as  possi 
ble.  This  adjustment  I  always  thought,  to  be  lasting,  would  have  ulti 
mately  to  be  settled  upon  a  constitutional  basis,  founded  upon  the  principles 
of  mutual  convenience  and  reciprocal  advantage  on  the  part  of  the  States, 
on  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  originally  formed.  I 
was  wedded  to  no  particular  plan  of  adjustment,  except  the  recognition, 
as  a  basis,  of  the  separate  sovereignty  of  the  several  States.  With  this 
recognized  as  a  principle,  I  thought  all  other  questions  of  difference  would 
soon  adjust  themselves  according  to  the  best  interests,  peace,  welfare,  and 
prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  as  enlightened  reason,  calm  judgment, 
and  a  sense  of  justice  might  direct.  This  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  several  States  I  regarded  as  a  self-adjusting,  self-regulating  principle 
of  our  American  system  of  State  governments,  extending,  possibly,  over 
the  continent. 

Q.  Have  your  opinions  undergone  any  change  since  the  opening  of  the 
rebellion  in  reference  to  the  reserved  rights  of  States  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States? 

A.  My  convictions  on  the  original  abstract  question  have  undergone  no 
change,  but  I  accept  the  issues  of  the  war  and  the  result  as  a  practical 
settlement  of  that  question.  The  sword  was  appealed  to  to  decide  the 
question,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  sword  I  am  willing  to  abide. 


APPENDIX  E. 


SPEECH   OF   THE   HON.  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 
OF   GEORGIA. 

Delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  12th,  1878, 
at  the  uncovering  of  F,  B.  Carpenter's  picture. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  MR.  SPEAKER: 

There  is  but  little  left  to  say  in  the  performance  of  the  part  assigned 
me  in  the  programme  arranged  for  this  august  occasion.  Upon  the  merits 
of  the  picture  and  the  skill  of  the  artist,  my  friend  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Gar- 
field]  has  dwelt  at  large.  I  can  but  endorse  all  he  has  so  well  said  on 
that  subject.  As  to  the  munificent  gift  of  the  donor,  he  has  also  left  me 
nothing  to  add.  The  present  of  a  twenty-five  thousand  dollar  painting  to 
the  Government  well  deserves  commendation.  Few  instances  of  this  sort 
have  occurred  in  the  history  of  our  country  ;  I  know  of  none.  The  ex 
ample  of  this  generous  lady  in  the  encouragement  of  art  may  well  be 
followed  by  others. 

Mr.  President,  with  regard  to  the  subject  of  the  painting,  I  propose,  if 
strength  permits,  to  submit  a  few  remarks ;  first,  as  to  the  central  figure, 
the  man  ;  after  that,  as  to  the  event  commemorated.  I  knew  Mr.  Lincoln 
well.  We  met  in  the  House  in  December,  1847.  We  were  together 
during  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  I  was  as  intimate  with  him  as  with  any 
other  man  of  that  Congress,  except  perhaps  one.  That  exception  was  my 
colleague,  Mr.  Toombs.  Of  Mr.  Lincoln's  general  character  I  need  not 
speak,  lie  was  warm-hearted  ;  he  was  generous  ;  he  was  magnanimous  ; 
he  was  most  truly,  as  he  afterward  said  on  a  memorable  occasion,  "  with 
malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all." 

In  bodily  form  he  was  above  the  average  ;  and  so  in  intellect ;  the  two 
were  in  symmetry.  Not  highly  cultivated,  he  had  a  native  genius  far 
above  the  average  of  his  fellows.  Every  fountain  of  his  heart  was  ever 
overflowing  with  the  "  milk  of  human  kindness."  So  much  for  him  per 
sonally.  From  my  attachment  to  him,  so  much  the  deeper  was  the  pang 
in  my  own  breast  as  well  as  of  millions  at  the  horrible  manner  of  his 
"  taking  off."  That  was  the  climax  of  our  troubles  and  the  spring  from 
which  came  afterward  "unnumbered  woes."  But  of  those  events  no 
624 


APPENDIX. 

more  now.     Widely  as  \ve  differed  on  public  questions  and  policies,  yet  as 
a  friend  I  may  say : 

"  No  farther  seek  his  merits  to  disclose, 

Or  draw  his  frailties  from  their  dread  abode ; 
There  they  alike  in  trembling  hope  repose, 
The  bosom  of  his  Father  and  his  God." 


So  much  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  on  this  occasion  to  say  in  behalf  of  one 
with  whom  I  held  relations  so  intimate,  and  one  who  personally  stood  so 
high  in  my  estimation. 

Now  as  to  the  great  historic  event  which  this  picture  represents,  and 
which  it  is  designed. to  commemorate. 

This  is  perhaps  a  subject  which,  as  my  friend  from  Ohio  has  said,  the 
people  of  this  day  and  generation  are  not  exactly  in  a  condition  to  weigh 
rightfully  and  judge  correctly.  One  thing  was  remarked  by  him  which 
should  be  duly  noted.  That  was  this :  Emancipation  was  not  the  chief 
object  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  issuing  the  proclamation.  His  chief  object,  the 
ideal  to  which  his  whole  soul  was  devoted,  was  the  preservation  of  the 
Union.  Let  not  history  confuse  events.  That  proclamation,  pregnant  as 
it  was  with  coming  events,  initiative  as  it  was  of  ultimate  emancipation, 
still  originated  in  point  of  fact  more  from  what  was  deemed  the  necessities 
of  war  than  from  any  pure  humanitarian  view  of  the  matter.  Life  is  all 
a  mist,  and  in  the  dark  our  fortunes  meet  us. 

This  was  evidently  the  case  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  in  my  opinion  was 
like  all  the  rest  of  us,  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  that  Providence 
above  us,  that  '•  Divinity  which  shapes  our  ends,  rough-hew  them  how  we 
will."  I  doubt  much,  as  was  indicated  by  my  friend  from  Ohio,  whether 
Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  time  realized  the  great  result.  Mark  you,  the  procla 
mation  itself  did  not  declare  free  all  the  colored  people  of  the  Southern 
States ;  it  applied  only  to  those  parts  of  the  country  then  in  resistance  to 
the  Federal  authorities.  If  the  emancipation  of  the  colored  race,  which  is 
one  of  the  greatest  epochs  in  our  day,  and  will  be  so  marked  in  the  future 
history  of  this  country,  be  a  boon  or  a  curse  to  them  (a  question  which, 
under  Providence,  is  yet  to  be  solved,  and  which  depends  much  upon 
themselves),  then,  representing  the  Southern  States  here,  I  must  claim  in 
their  behalf  that  the  freedom  of  that  race  was  never  finally  consummated, 
and  could  not  be  until  the  Southern  States  sanctioned  the  Thirteenth 
Amendment,  which  they  did,  every  one  of  them,  by  their  own  former  con 
stituencies.  Before  the  upturning  of  Southern  society  by  the  reconstruc 
tion  acts  the  white  people  ihere  came  to  the  conclusion  that  their  domestic 
institution  known  as  slavery  had  better  be  abolished.  They  accepted 
the  proposition  for  emancipation  by  a  voluntary,  uncontrolled  sanction  of 
the  proposed  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  This  sanction  was  given  by  the  original  constituency  of  those 

40 


626  APPENDIX. 

States,  the  former  governing  white  race,  and  without  that  sanction  the 
Thirteenth  Amendment  never  could  have  been  incorporated  in  the  funda 
mental  law.  That  is  the  charter  of  the  colored  man's  freedom.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  idea,  as  embodied  in  his  first  proclamation  of  September  22d, 
1862,  as  well  as  that  of  January  1st,  1863,  was  consummated  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  without  that  the  proclamation  had  nothing  but  the  continued 
existence  of  the  war  to  sustain  it.  Had  the  States  in  resistance  laid  down 
their  arms  by  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  the  Union  would  have  been  saved, 
but  the  condition  of  the  slave  so  called  would  have  been  unchanged. 
Upon  the  subject  of  emancipation  itself  it  may  here  be  stated  that  the 
pecuniary  view,  the  politico-economic  question  involved,  the  amount  of 
property  invested  under  the  system,  though  that  was  vast2  not  less  than 
two  billion  dollars,  weighed,  in  my  estimation,  no  more  than  a  drop  in 
the  bucket  compared  with  the  great  ethnological  problem  now  in  tho 
process  of  solution. 

Mr.  President,  as  to  this  institution  called  slavery  in  the  Southern 
States  many  errors  existed,  and  many  exceedingly  unjust  prejudices. 
Prejudice!  What  wrongs,  what  injuries,  what  mischiefs,  what  lamentable 
consequences  have  resulted  at  all  times  from  this  perversity  of  the  intel 
lect  !  Of  all  the  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  truth  and  human  prog 
ress  in  every  department  of  knowledge,  in  science,  in  art,  in  government, 
and  in  religion,  in  all  ages  and  climes,  not  one  on  the  list  is  more  for 
midable,  more  difficult  to  overcome  and  subdue  than  this  horrible  distortion 
of  the  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  faculties. 

I  could  enjoin  no  greater  duty  upon  my  countrymen  now,  North  and 
South,  as  I  said  upon  a  former  occasion,  than  the  exercise  of  that  degree 
of  forbearance  which  would  enable  them  to  conquer  their  prejudices.  One 
of  the  highest  exhibitions  of  the  moral  sublime  the  world  ever  witnessed 
was  that  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  greatest  orator  I  ever  heard,  combining 
thought  with  elocution,  when  after  Faneuil  Hall  was  denied  him,  he  in  an 
open  barouche  in  the  streets  of  Boston  proclaimed  in  substance  to  a  vast 
assembly  of  his  constituents — unwilling  hearers — that  they  had  conquered 
an  uncongenial  clime ;  they  had  conquered  a  sterile  soil ;  they  had  con 
quered  the  winds  and  currents  of  the  ocean  ;  they  had  conquered  niost 
of  the  elements  of  nature,  but  they  must  yet  learn  to  conquer  their 
prejudices. 

I  would  say  this  to  the  people  of  the  North  as  well  as  to  the  people  of 
the  South. 

Indulge  me  for  a  moment  upon  this  subject  of  the  institution  of  slavery, 
so  called,  in  the  Southern  States.  Well,  Mr.  President  and  Mr.  Speaker, 
it  was  not  an  unmitigated  evil.  It  was  not,  thus  much  I  can  say,  without 
its  compensations.  It  is  my  purpose  now,  however,  to  bury,  not  to  praise, 
to  laud,  "nor  aught  extenuate." 

It  had  its  faults,  and  most  grievously  has  the  country,  North  and  South, 


APPENDIX.  (527 

for  both  were  equally  responsible  for  it,  answered  them.  It  also,  let  it  be 
remembered,  gave  rise  to  some  of  the  noblest  virtues  that  adorn  civilisation. 
But  let  its  faults  and  virtues  be  buried  alike  forever. 

I  will  say  this:  If  it  were  not  the  best  relation  for  the  happiness  and 
welfare  of  both  races  or  could  not  be  made  so,  morally,  physically,  intel 
lectually,  and  politically,  it  was  wrong,  and  ought  to  have  been  abolished. 
This  I  said  of  it  years  before  secession,  and  I  repeat  it  still.  But  as  I  have 
said,  this  is  no  time  now  to  discuss  those  questions. 

I  have  seen  something  of  the  world  and  travelled  somewhat,  and  I  have 
never  yet  found  on  earth  a  paradise.  The  Southern  States  are  no  excep 
tion.  Wherever  I  have  been  I  have  been  ready  to  exclaim  with  Burns. — 

"  But  oh  !  what  crowds  in  every  land 
Are  wretched  and  forlorn  ! 

Man's  inhumanity  to  man 

Makes  countless  thousands  mourn." 

It  was  so  at  tho  South.  It  was  so  at  the  North.  It  is  so  yet.  It  is  so 
in  every  part  of  the  world  where  I  have  been.  The  question  of  the  proper 
relation  of  the  races  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  which  statesmen 
or  philanthropists,  legislators  or  jurists,  ever  had  to  solve.  The  former 
policy  of  the  Southern  States  upon  this  subject  is  ended,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  inappropriate  on  this  occasion  to  indulge  in  some  remarks  upon  the 
subject.  Since  the  emancipation,  since  the  former  ruling  race  have  been 
relieved  of  their  direct  heavy  responsibility,  for  the  protection  and  welfare 
of  their  dependents,  it  has  been  common  to  speak  of  the  colored  race  as 
"  the  wards  of  the  nation." 

May  I  not  say  with  appropriateness  in  this  connection  and  due  reverence, 
in  the  language  of  Georgia's  greatest  intellect  (Toombs),  "  They  are  rather 
the  wards  of  the  Almighty,"  committed  now  under  a  new  state  of  things 
to  the  rulers,  the  law-makers,  the  law-expounders,  and  the  law-executors 
throughout  this  broad  land,  within  their  respective  constitutional  spheres, 
to  take  care  of  and  provide  for,  in  that  complicated  system  of  government 
under  which  we  live  ?  I  am  inclined,  sir,  so  to  regard  them  and  so  to  speak 
of  them, — not  as  to  exceptional  cases,  but  as  a  mass.  In  the  providence 
of  God  why  their  ancestors  were  permitted  to  be  brought  over  here  it  is 
not  for  us  to  say,  but  they  have  a  location  and  habitation  here,  especially 
in  the  South  ;  and  since  the  changed  condition  of  their  status,  though  it 
was  the  leading  cause  of  the  late  terrible  conflict  of  arms  between  the 
States,  yet  I  think  I  may  venture  to  affirm  there  is  not  one  within  the 
circle  of  my  acquaintance*,  or  in  the  whole  Southern  country,  who  would 
wish  to  see  the  old  relation  restored. 

If  there  is  one  in  all  the  South  who  would  desire  such  a  change  back  I 
am  not  aware  of  it.  Well,  then,  this  changed  status  creates  new  duties. 
The  wardship  has  changed  hands.  Men  of  the  North  and  of  the  South, 


028  APPENDIX. 

of  the  East  and  of  the  West, — I  care  not  of  what  party, — I  would  to-day, 
on  this  commemorative  occasion,  urge  upon  every  one  within  the  sphere 
of  duty  and  humanity,  whether  in  public  or  private  life,  to  see  to  it  that 
there  be  no  violation  of  the  divine  trust. 

Mr.  President  and  Mr.  Speaker,  one  or  two  other  reflections  may  not  be 
out  of  place  on  this  occasion.  In  submitting  them  I  shall  but  repeat,  in 
substance,  what  I  said  in  my  own  State  nearly  twelve  years  ago.  What  is 
to  be  the  future? 

During  the  conflict  of  arms  I  frequently  almost  despaired  of  the  liberties 
of  our  country  both  South  and  North.  War  seldom  advances,  while  it 
always  menaces,  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  most  frequently  results  in  its 
destruction.  The  union  of  these  States  at  first  I  always  thought  was 
founded  upon  the  assumption  that  it  was  the  best  interest  of  all  to  remain 
united,  faithfully  performing  each  for  itself  its  own  constitutional  obliga 
tions  under  the  compact.  When  secession  was  resorted  to  as  a  remedy,  it 
was  only  to  avoid  a  greater  evil  that  I  went  with  my  State,  holding  it  to 
be  my  duty  so  to  do,  but  believing  all  the  time  that,  if  successful  (for  which 
end  I  strove  most  earnestly),  when  the  passions  of  the  hour  and  of  the  day 
were  over  the  great  law  which  produced  the  Union  at  first,  "  mutual  in 
terest  and  reciprocal  advantage,"  this  grand  truth  which  Great  Britain 
learned  after  seven  years  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  put  in  the  pre 
amble  to  the  preliminary  articles  of  peace  in  1781,  would  reassert  itself, 
and  that  at  no  distant  day  a  new  Union  of  some  sort  would  again  be 
formed. 

My  earnest  desire,  however,  throughout  was  that  whatever  might  be 
done,  might  be  peaceably  done  ;  might  be  the  result  of  calm,  dispassionate, 
and  enlightened  reason,  looking  to  the  permanent  interests  and  welfare  of 
all.  And  now,  after  the  severe  chastisement  of  war,  if  the  general  sense 
of  the  whole  country  shall  come  back  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  origi 
nal  assumption,  that  it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  all  the  States  to  be  so 
united,  as  I  trust  it  will, — the  States  still  being  "separate  as  the  billows 
but  one  as  the  sea," — this  thorn  in  the  body  politic  being  now  removed,  I 
can  perceive  no  reason  why  under  such  restoration,  the  flag  no  longer 
waving  over  provinces  but  States,  we  as  a  whole,  with  "  peace,  commerce, 
and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations  and  entangling  alliances  with  none," 
may  not  enter  upon  a  new  career,  exciting  increased  wonder  in  the  Old 
World  by  grander  achievements  hereafter  to  be  made,  than  any  heretofore 
attained,  by  the  peaceful  and  harmonious  workings  of  our  matchless  system 
of  American  federal  institutions  of  self-go vernm-ent.  All  this  is  possible 
if  the  hearts  of  the  people  be  right.  It  is  uiy  earnest  wish  to  see  it. 
Fondly  would  I  indulge  my  fancy  in  gazing  on  such  a  picture  of  the 
future.  With  what  rapture  may  we  not  suppose  the  spirits  of  our  fathers 
would  hail  its  opening  scenes  from  their  mansions  above.  But  if,  instead 
of  all  this,  sectional  passions  shall  continue  to  bear  sway,  if  prejudice 
shall  rule  the  hour ;  if  a  conflict  of  classes,  of  labor  and  capital,  or  of  the 


APPENDIX.  629 

races  shall  arise ;  if  the  embers  of  the  late  war  shall  be  kept  a-glowing 
until  with  new  fuel  they  shall  flame  up  again,  then  our  late  great  troubles 
and  disasters  were  but  the  shadow,  the  penumbra  of  that  deeper  and  darker 
eclipse  which  is  to  totally  obscure  this  hemisphere  and  blight  forever  the 
anxious  anticipations  and  expectations  of  mankind  !  Then,  hereafter,  by 
some  bard  it  may  be  sung, — 

"  The  Star  of  Hope  shone  brightest  in  the  West, 

The  hope  of  Liberty,  the  last,  the  best; 

It,  too,  has  set  upon  her  darkened  shore, 

And  Hope  and  Freedom  light  up  earth  no  more." 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abolitionists,  practices,  125;  run  Presi 
dential  candidate,  317.  ' 

Acquisition  of  Louisiana,  118. 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  anecdote  of,  181,  193: 
death,  226. 

Alabama,  trip  to,  101. 

Alexander,  A.  L.,  51,  99. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  117. 

"Allison"  letters,  227. 

Atlanta  Sun,  connexion  with,  505:  loss 
by,  529. 

B. 

Baltimore,  affray  in,  397. 

Baltimore,  Democratic  Convention,  354, 
364. 

Banks,  N.  P.,  elected  Speaker,  306;  de 
feated  by  Jackson,  412. 

Barnard,  F.  A.  P.,  letter  from,  538. 

Battle,  Isaac,  suit  vs.  Hilsman,  96. 

Battles,  first  Manassas,  406;  Shiloh, 
411;  Valley  Campaign,  Seven  Pines, 
Six  Days',  41 2 ;  second  Manassas,  Mur- 
freesboro',  Sharpsburg,  416;  Chan- 
cellorsville,  442  ;  Gettysburg,  443  ; 
Wilderness,  etc.,  463. 

Beauregard,  G.  T.,  takes  Sumter,  396; 
checks  Butler,  463  ;  an  opinion  of,  464. 

Bell,  Emmeline,  wife  of  Linton  Stephens, 
21,  267;  death,  324. 

Benton,  T.  II.,  248. 

Berrien,  J.  M.,  158,  198. 

Bird,  J.  L.,  196,  198,  351. 

Bird,  W.,  residence  with,  72;  death,  194. 

Bowdoin  College,  degree  of  LL.D.  from, 
520. 

Bristow,  C.,  toast  by,  135;  death,  197. 

Bristow,  F.,  196,  208. 

Brown,  J.  E.,  Governor,  409  ;  proclama 
tion  by,  435;  invited  to  meet  General 
Sherman,  471. 

Brown,  M.,  resolutions,  184. 

Bryant,  B.,  24. 

Buchanan,  J.,  249,  315;  elected  Presi 
dent,  317;  interview  with,  329;  breaks 
with  Douglas,  337 ;  visit  to,  338 ;  re 
monstrance  with,  347,  428. 

Bulwer,  Sir  II.,  anecdote  of,  253. 

Burch,  R.  T.,  95. 

Burton's  Anatomy  nf  Melancholy,  221. 


Cabinet  of  President  Taylor,  252,  255; 

of  President  Davis,  395. 
Calhoun,  J.  C.,  opinion  of,  203;  Terri 
torial    Resolutions,   221;    report,  235, 
243;  death,  251. 
Calhoun,  J.  M.,  letter  to,  on  martial  law, 

421. 

California,  admission  of,  246;  constitu 
tion  of,  248. 

Campbell,  D.  G.,  51. 

Campbell,  J.  A.,  negotiation  with  Sew- 
ard,  394. 

Cass,  L.,  249. 

Chaffin,  T.,  133;  journey  with,  145. 

Chandler,  G.  A.,  generous  offer,  71. 

Chapman,  J.,  election,  139. 

Charleston  Commercial  Convention, 
speech  at,  132. 

Charleston  Democratic  Convention,  353; 
Secession  Convention,  374. 

Cherokee  Indians,  treaty  with  Great 
Britain,  270. 

Chicago  Convention,  469. 

Church,  A..  53,  55  ;  household  of,  62;  336. 

Church,  Elizabeth.  170. 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  speech  on,  521. 

Clay,  H.,  Missouri  Resolution,  121; 
speech,  183;  reception  in  Washing 
ton,  224 ;  remark  by,  226  ;  change  of 
purpose,  227,  243;  Compromise  Reso 
lutions,  245;  speech,  254;  "Omnibus 
Bill,"  257;  308. 

Clayton  Compromise,  228. 

Clayton,  J.  M.,  Secretary  of  State,  238; 
anecdote  of,  253. 

Cobb,  II.,  anecdotes  of,  1 78, 1 79 ;  Speaker, 
241 ;  charge  against,  251  ;  Governor, 
265;  301;  hostility  to  Douglas,  338  : 
joke  on,  386;  advice  to,  428. 

College,  Macon  Female,  346. 

Colquitt,  W.  T.,  debate  with.  173. 

Commissioners,  Peace,  388,  393. 

Committee  on  Federal  Relations,  report 
of,  158. 

Cone,  F,  H.,  assault  on  Mr.  Stephens, 
232. 

Confederate  bonds,  441. 

Confederate  steamers,  443. 

Congress,  Confederate  Provisional,  387; 
character  of,  392;  Permanent,  414. 
631 


632 


INDEX. 


Congress,  Peace,  388. 

Congressional  year,  mode  of  reckoning 
changed,  258. 

Connell,  Cosby,  450. 

Conscription  policy,  409,  415,  417,  418, 
429,  445. 

Constitution  of  Confederate  States,  Pro 
visional,  385 ;  Permanent,  392. 

Constitution  of  United  States,  111 ;  con 
struction  of,  117.  " 

Constitutional  Amendment,  ratification 
of,  494  ;  powers  conferred,  522. 

Constitutional  View  of  the  Wai;  492,  494, 
500  ;  reviews  of,  495,  504 ;  receipts 
from,  529. 

Constitutional  Union  party,  258,  272. 

Convention  of  1787,  llO  ;  Hartford,  118; 
Charleston  Commercial,  132;  Charles 
ton  Democratic,  353  ;  Baltimore  Dem 
ocratic,  354, 365;  Charleston  Secession, 
374;  Georgia  Secession,  380. 

Convention  between  Virginia  and  Con 
federate  States,  399. 

Cotton  as  basis  of  finance,  405,  415,  424. 

Crawford,  M.  J.,  Peace  Commissioner, 
389,  391. 

Crawford,  W.  H.,  89,  172  j  Governor, 
197;  Galphin  claim,  251,  270. 

Cravvfordville,  72;  description  of,  531. 


J). 


Davis,  H.  W.,  debate  with,  333,  334. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  President  of  Confed 
erate  States,  385 ;  inauguration,  386  ; 
Cabinet,  395  ;  how  nominated,  389 ; 
396;  relations  with,  426;  message, 
431 ;  interview  with,  444,  468  ;  speech, 
474,  486;  captured,  487. 

Dawson,  W.  C.,  287. 

Day,  N.,  24,  26 ;  anecdote  of,  28. 

Deadlock  in  House  of  Representatives, 
300. 

Dearing,  W.,  51. 

Death  of  A.  II.  Stephens,  553. 

Democratic  party,  112,  124,  241. 

Dinner  offered  by  Congress,  345  ;  at  Au 
gusta,  346. 

Dodge,  General,  anecdote  of,  296. 

Dougherty,  F.,  anecdote  of,  150. 

Douglas,  S.  A.,  228;  reports  Nebraska 
Bill,  276;  opposes  Lecompton  Consti 
tution,  327;  contest  with  Lincoln,  337; 
candidate  at  Charleston,  354;  death, 
405;  428. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  316,  335. 


K. 


Election  to  Georgia  Legislature,  126, 
139,  147;  to  State  Senate,  156;  to 
Congress,  174,  265,  297;  to  Vice-Pres 
idency  Confederate  States,  385 ;  to 
Congress,  519,  529,  534. 


Electoral  Commission,  535. 
Ellington,  H.,  anecdote  of,  92. 
"  Emigrant  Aid  Societies,"  277,  309. 
Encyclopedia,   Johnson's,  contributions 

to,  521. 
England,  feeling  toward  the  South,  419, 

431. 

Espy,  J.  P.,  541. 
Ewing,  T.,  joke  of,  182. 


F. 


Fair  Play,  debate  at,  139. 

Federal  Government,  formation  of,  110. 

Federal  party,  111,  117,  145. 

Fillmore,  M.,  249,  314;  position  of,  315. 

Financial   policy  of  Mr.  Stephens,  405, 

424,  427. 

Fishing  bounties,  122. 
Florida,  trip  to,  169,  195. 
Forsyth,  J.,  389. 
Fort  Sumter,  evacuation  promised,  394; 

surrendered,  396. 

Fort  Warren,  imprisonment  in,  487. 
Foster,  N.  G.,  election,  297. 
Foster,  T.>  81,  86,  99,  107,  126,  145. 
Foster  and  Montgomery  plot,  442,  444. 
Fouche,  S.,  134,  139. 
Fourth  of  July  at  Cravvfordville,  87,  134, 

530  ;  at  Atlanta,  530. 
Free-Soil  party,  237,  317. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  275. 


Galphin  claim,  251,  270. 

Georgia  and  Ohio  compared,  284,  289. 

Georgia  Education  Society,  50,  59. 

Georgia  old-field  schools,  26. 

Georgia  railroads,  291. 

Georgia  Resolutions  of  1850,  259. 

Georgia    University,    life    at,    53,    60; 

elected  Professor,  496. 
Georgia  Whigs,  157,  167. 
Giles  and  Finkle  correspondence  (see 

Preface),  22,  24,  30,  34,  41,  44,  47,  50, 

54,  59,  66. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  463,  485  ;  anecdote  of,  492; 

opinion  of,  505,  529;  policy,  508. 
Greeley,  H.,  509,  512. 
Grier,  A.  W.  (uncle),  41,  43,  45,  269. 
Grier,  Elizabeth  (aunt),  23,  43. 
Grier,  Margaret,  wife  of  A.  B.  Stephens, 

20. 


II. 


Habeas  corpus,  suspension  of,  398,  417, 
420;  resolutions,  455,  459;  Judge 
Taney's  decision,  475. 

Hale,  Senator,  anecdote  of,  308. 

Hampton  Roads,  naval  battle  in,  412; 
Conference,  484,  486. 

Harris,  J.  L.,  letter  of,  127. 


INDEX. 


633 


Harrison,  W.  II.,  President,  145 ;  death, 

149. 

Hartford  Convention,  118. 
Hay,  G.,  51. 
Hill,  B.  11.,  316,  529. 
Hilsman,  J.,  lawsuit  with  I.  Battle,  96. 
Hixtory  of  the    United  States,    501,   506, 

511. 
History  of  the  War,  492,  494,  495,  500, 

504,  529. 

Hopkins,  Professor,  anecdote  of,  60. 
Hospitals  in  Richmond,  407,  410. 
Houston,  S.,  248,  249. 


I. 


Inauguration   of   Executive  officers  C.  S. 

A.,  386. 
Internal    Improvements,    122 ;     in    the 

South,  281. 
International  Review,  article  in,  268,  535. 


-I. 


Jackson,  A.,  President,  protest,  75 ;  anec 
dote  of,  103;  action  in  South  Carolina 
case,  123. 

Jackson,  T.  J.  ("Stonewall"),  412,  416; 
death,  442. 

Jeffries,  S.  C.,  offer  of  partnership,  90. 

Jenkins,  C.  J.,  272. 

Johnson,  H.  V.,  208  ;  Governor,  272. 

Johnston,  A.  S.,  411;  death,  413,  436. 

Johnston,  J.  E.,  ability,  427,  436;  checks 
Sherman,  463;  strategy,  467,  479. 

Jones,  A.,  250. 

Journey  to  Alabama,  101;  to  Indian 
Springs,  128;  to  the  North,  129;  to 
Greehbrier  Springs,  130;  to  Cherokee 
country,  145  ;  to  Florida,  169,  195  ;  to 
Northwest,  337. 

Junius  Letters,  authorship  of,  267. 


1C. 


Kansas  War,  277;  Bill,  280,282;  elec 
tion,  308,  309,  317;  admission,  328, 
329,  330,  331,  332,  333. 

Kemper,  Governor,  message  quoted,  526. 

King,  W.,  letter  to,  472. 

"  Know-Nothing"  party,  286,  292  ;  letter 
on,  293  ;  campaign  against,  296,  298. 

Kossuth,  L..  address  at  Baltimore,  266. 

"Ku-Klux  Klan,"  508. 


L. 


La  Fayette,  anecdote  of,  287. 
Lawrence,  Dr.,  139,  146. 
Lecompton  Constitution  (Kansas),  328. 
Le  Conte,  Dr.,  70. 
Le  Conte,  W.,  69. 

Lee,  R.  E.,  413;  opinion  of,  427  ;  ability, 
435;  invades   Pennsylvania,  442;  de 


fence  of  Richmond,  463;  surrender, 
487. 

Letter  on  Know-Nothingisui,  293 ;  on 
Charleston  Convention,  357 ;  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  371;  to  J.  M.  Calhoun,  421  : 
on  mode  of  securing  peace,  470 ;  on 
Senatorship,  489. 

Lewis,  L.  A.,  66. 

Liberty  Hall,  351,  453,  488,  512,  531. 

Lincoln,  A.,  contest  with  Douglas,  337, 
Republican  candidate  for  Presidency, 
355  ;  election,  366 ;  correspondence 
with,  371  ;  suspends  habeas  corpus, 
398;  Cabinet,  404;  Emancipation  Pro 
clamation,  416;  428,  432;  anecdote  of, 
485. 

Lind,  Jenny,  260. 

Lindsay,  Matilda  S.,  wife  of  A.  B. 
Stephens,  20. 

Locust  Grove  Academy,  44. 

Louisiana  purchase  opposed,  118. 

Lumpkin,  J.  H.,  89. 

Lyons,  Lord,  431. 


Macon  Female  College,  346. 

Madison,  school  at,  66. 

Marshal],  Chief  Justice,  anecdote  of,  183. 

Martial  law,  417,  418,  420. 

McClellan,  G.  B.,  436,  469. 

McLean,  J.,  letter,  207. 

Mercer,  L.  Bv  74,  78 ;  controversy  with, 
128. 

Metcalf,  ex-Governor,  235. 

Mexican  Appropriation,  speech  on,  212. 

Mexican  War,  201;  speech  on,  204;  res 
olutions,  210. 

Milledgeville  Convention,  380. 

Mills,  C.  C.,  43,  47. 

Minnesota,  admission  of,  334. 

Mission  proposed  to  Washington,  442, 
443,  444. 

Missouri  Compromise,  120. 

Missouri  line  abolished,  257. 

Montgomery  and  Foster,  plot  and  cor 
respondence,  442,  444. 

N. 

National  Bank,  168. 

National  Government  rejected  by  Con 
vention  of  1787,  111. 

"  National  party,"  111,  117. 

Navigation  of  Mississippi,  proposed  ces 
sion  to  Spain,  116. 

Navy,  Confederate,  443. 

Nebraska  Bill,  276,  280. 

Negroes  at  the  South,  283;  in  Georgia, 
503. 

"New  Departure,  the,"  509,  517. 

New  England  States,  114;  change  of 
policy,  118. 

New  Orleans,  surrender  of,  413. 

Nicaragua,  328 


634 


INDEX. 


Nisbet,  E.,  147. 

Nullification,  South  Carolina,  123. 


O'Cavanaugh,  schoolmaster,  44. 
Ohio  and  Georgia  compared,  284,  289. 
Old-field  schools  in  Georgia,  26. 
O'Neal,  Q.,  351. 

Oregon,  boundary  question,  200,  202, 
204;  Territorial  government,  212. 

P. 

"  Parson,  the,"  351. 

Parties,  the  two  great,  109,  111. 

Peace  Congress,  388. 

Peace  Resolutions,  455,  457,  470. 

"  Personal  Liberty  Acts,"  275,  376. 

Pierce,  F.,  President,  message,  300;  pol 
icy,  Ml  5. 

Political  year,  change  in,  258. 

Polk,  J.  K.,  President,  Mexican  policy, 
200,  203;  caution,  204;  popularity, 
207;  policy  attacked,  212. 

Powder  Creek  Sunday-school,  41,  42. 

Powelton,  speech  at,  147. 

Prisoners,  exchange  of,  443,  444,  485. 

Problems  at  formation  of  Union,  110. 

Protection  policy,  122. 

Provisional  Government  for  Confederate 
States,  383  ;  Constitution  for,  385. 

Q. 

Quincy,  J.,  State-rights  speech,  118. 


K. 


Railway  accidents,  272,  463. 

Railroad,  Georgia,  projected,  81  ;  system, 
how  developed,  282;  compared  with 
Ohio,  291. 

Railroad,  Texas  Pacific,  538. 

Ray,  Sabrina  (cousin),  72,  99,  170,  195; 
death,  278. 

Ray,  T.,  77,  99,  170,  345. 

Recognition,  European,  of  Confederate 
States,  417,  419,  431. 

"Reconstruction  Committee,"  testimony 
before,  491. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Federal  Rela 
tions,  156. 

Representation,  how  apportioned,  115. 

Resolutions  on  Mexican  War,  210; 
Georgia,  259 ;  in  Confederate  Con 
gress,  480. 

Rhetoric,  study  of,  150. 

Richmond  Democratic  Convention,  354. 

Roman,  A.  B.,  389. 

S. 
Salary  Bill,  action  on,  527. 


Salter,  Mary  W.,  wife  of  Linton  Stephens, 

Saturday  Review  on  History  of  the  War, 
504. 

Scott,  W.,  268. 

Secession  of  South  Carolina,  374;  Geor 
gia,  382;  Virginia,  396. 

Secession  looked  to  in  1851,  264. 

Semmes,  A.  G.,  51. 

Semmes,  R.,  433. 

Shannon,  Professor,  anecdote  of,  61. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  463,  468,  471,  486. 

Signal  Service  Bureau,  origin,  549. 

Slavery,  how  regarded  in  1787,114;  at 
the  South,  191,  192 ;  agitation  in 
Congress,  228 ;  effects  of,  283  ;  in  Ter 
ritories,  302;  in  the  South,  310. 

Slaves,  plot  to  raise  the,  442,  444. 

Slave-trade,  Eastern  States  vote  for  its 
continuance,  115,  120. 

Soule1,  P.,  amendment  to  Clay's  bill,  256. 

Southern  Review,  495. 

Speech  at  "Crawfordville,  87;  on  Rail 
road  Bill,  127 ;  at  Charleston  Com 
mercial  Convention,  132;  at  Crawford- 
'  ville,  136;  at  Newnan,  173;  on  right 
of  members  to  seats,  176;  on  admis 
sion  of  Texas,  185;  on  Mexican  War, 
204;  on  Mexican  appropriation,  212; 
on  Clayton  Compromise,  229 :  at  Bal 
timore,  266;  at  Emory  College,  268; 
on  Galphin  claim,  271 :  on  Nebraska 
Bill,  276;  on  repeal  of  Kansas-Ne 
braska  Bill,  280;  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Campbell,  289;  against  Know-Noth- 
ingism,  294;  on  Kansas  election,  308; 
on  admission  of  Kansas,  309;  on  Presi 
dential  election,  etc.,  318;  on  admis 
sion  of  Minnesota,  334 ;  at  Augusta, 
346  ;  against  secession,  367  ;  at  Mil- 
ledgeville  Convention,  380 ;  at  Savan 
nah  on  public  affairs,  394;  on  support 
of  the  war,  423 ;  at  Sparta  on  state 
of  affairs,  445 ;  before  Confederate 
Senate,  478;  at  Milledgeville  on  state 
of  the  country,  491  ;  on  Civil  Rights 
Bill,  521;  at  Atlanta,  530;  on  uncov- 

•   ering  Carpenter's  picture,  537. 
State-Rights  party,  112,  117;   coalition 

with  Northern  Democrats,  140. 
Stephens,  Aaron  Grier  (brother),  20,  41, 

131;  death,  174. 

Stephens,  Alexander  (grandfather),  im 
migrates,  17;  marries  and  removes  to 
Georgia,  18. 

Stephens,  Andrew  Baskins  (father),  18, 
19;  children,  20;  recollections  of,  33; 
death,  40. 

Stephens,  James  (uncle),  visit  to,  104. 
Stephens,  John  (brother),  169, 305 ;  death, 

314. 

Stephens,  Linton  (brother),  21,  41  ;  en 
ter?  University,  133;  letters  to,  141; 
graduation,  171  ;  enters  University  of 


INDEX. 


Virginia,  181 ;  goes  to  Cambridge,  195  ; 
marries^  267  ;  removes  to  Sparta,  271 ; 
candidate  for  Congress,  295  ;  partner 
ship,  314;  runs  for  Congress,  326;  ap 
pointed  judge,  345;  resolution  offered 
by,  382  ;  goes  to  Fort  Warren,  487 ; 
arrest,  503;  death,  513. 

Stephens,  Linton  (nephew),  434,  '485. 

Story,  J.,  181,  183;  death,  197. 

Styx  (British  steamer),  336. 

SHU,  Atlanta,  505,  529. 

Sunday-school  celebration  at  Crawford- 
ville,  532. 


T. 


Taney.  R.  B.,  decision  in  Dred  Scott  case, 
31fi.  335  :  in  Merryman's  case,  475. 

Tariff,  122.  157. 

Taylor.  Gen.  Richard,  543. 

Taylor.  /.,  advances  to  Rio  Grande,  201  ; 
nominated  for  Presidency,  224  :  "Alli 
son'1  letters  of,  227;  elected  President, 
236  ;  character  and  Cabinet.  252. 

Texas,  admission  of,  184,  192. 

Thomas,  J  ,  267,  415. 

Thomas,  T.  W.,  293;  anecdote  of,  367; 
404. 

Toombs,  R.,  89:  generous  offer,  131; 
friendship,  141  ;  journey  with,  195; 
remark  to  Mr.  Clay,  225  ;  votes  against 
Mexican  appropriation,  232 ;  speech 
on  California  Bill,  256;  sympathy, 
325  ;  compliment,  367  (no'te)  ;  de 
nounced,  370  ;  in  Confederate  Con 
gress,  386:  proposed  for  President, 
390. 

Topeka  Constitution  for  Kansas,  309. 

Troup,  G.  M.,  135,  137;  mode  of  life, 
460. 

Tyler  Whigs,  157. 


u. 


University  of   Georgia,   student   at,  53, 
60  ;  elected  Professor,  496. 


Utah,  Territorial   Government   for,  255, 
257;  Mormon  War  in,  328. 


\  . 


Van  Buren,  M.,  President,  138. 

Vason,  P. -A.,  69. 

Vigilance  committees,  125. 

Virginia     and     Kentucky     Resolutions, 

117. 
Virginia  secedes,  396  ;  convention  with, 

399. 
Vicksburg,  fall  of,  443. 


W. 


Waddell,  M.,  53,  55. 

Walker,  W.,  Nicaragua  expedition,  328. 

Walker,  R.  J.,  218. 

Webster,  A.  II.,  47,  48,  51. 

Webster,  D.,  243,  254,  257,  268. 

Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  debate 
on,  126 ;  Mr.  Stcphens's  connection 
with,  501. 

Whig  party,  124;  led  by  Clay,  138;  in 
Georgia,  157;  platform  of,  167;  lose 
ground,  207;  position  in  1847,  210; 
timidity,  219;  Northern  Whigs,  255  j 
lean  to  Know-Nothingism,  292. 

Wilmot  Proviso,  212,  221,  230,  237,  245. 

Wingfield,  G.,  42. 

Winthrop,  Mr.,  Speaker,  220,  237. 

Witholo-mico,  an  Indian  chief,  102. 

Wright,  A.  R.,  99. 


Y. 


Yancey,  W.  L.,  207. 
Young  persons  educated  by  Mr.  Stephens, 
425. 


Zollicoffcr,  Mr.,  debate  with,  302. 


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